Would You Hold Me?
by FlamingNytro
Summary: When Jaune Arc is feeling like the world is overwhelming him, a certain red-hooded girl comes to lend a hand- and possibly a heart. -Some Jaune x Ruby (Lancaster) friendship! And romance? Time will tell! Updates whenever another chapter gets done; Rated T for some language and romantic themes in the future maybe? (Begins at the end of Volume 1)
1. Chapter 1: Would You Hold Me?

The night sky glittered magnificently, illuminated by millions of stars. The atmosphere was so calming that one could have just stared into the abyss of the midnight air for an eternity. Nights like this at Vale were a somewhat rarity, so it was no surprise to find many people just sitting around and enjoying the peace granted to them by nature. Sitting on a roof and just watching the skies in wonder, for example, was the perfect scenario for at least one young man.

"Jaune? What are you doing up here?" The blonde boy snapped his head to the sudden voice behind him. The last place he'd have expected anyone to find him was here on the roof, and the last person he'd expect to be standing behind him was Ruby Rose. If anyone were to come to him here, it would have been Pyrrha. But with the tournament coming up, she rarely had time to even speak with him anymore. So, he figured coming to their old training spot alone at night would find him so peace of mind, though it never really worked. The world just seemed like it was becoming too difficult to handle too fast for his liking. And with the girl he had an eye on gone away most of the time, the feeling of whether or not Jaune was being left behind was becoming more prominent within himself.

He shook his head slightly, allowing the unwanted thoughts and feelings to subside as he focused on the present, and on the girl in front of him. "Ruby? I, uh… I'm just sitting here." He gestured at himself sitting on the ledge of the building, legs dangling lazily off the side.

The small girl rolled her eyes in a playful manner, stepping up beside him and dropping down to sit to his left. "Thanks, Captain Obvious- I clearly can't see that for myself."

"Well, you should be more specific, Crater Face," Jaune replied, unable to keep the smile off his face.

He chuckled as Ruby bumped her shoulder against his. "Shut up, you can't keep calling me that! That happened on the first day we came to Beacon."

"You never forget the sight of one of your friends exploding." They both laughed at the statement, their voices echoing in the dark stillness around them. After their chuckles died down, Ruby cocked her head at Jaune, a look of curiosity now present on her.

"Seriously though Jaune, what's up? It's like, one in the morning and we have class tomorrow."

Team JNPR's leader felt his smile fade as she studied him. He turned away to look over Beacon, thinking about possibly coming up with some excuse of why he couldn't sleep. But the longer his thought process continued, he realized that he couldn't justify to himself not telling Ruby the truth. Hell, if there was anyone he'd be able to talk to about this, Ruby was most likely the best choice. Ren wouldn't be the best guy to go to on account of his quiet demeanor, Nora was definitely too hyper and wouldn't take it as seriously as Jaune would like. He could _not_ got to Pyrrha about any of this, and he wasn't good enough friends with the rest of team RWBY to even really hold a conversation with. So with a sigh, he slumped forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees.

"I don't know Ruby… I just don't know what to think."

She squinted, shuffling closer to him and nudging his arm with hers. "Are you feeling like a failure again?"

He groaned slightly, but shook his head. "No- but I don't exactly feel like a victor, either."

"Okay hot stuff, start talking- what's wrong?"

Jaune couldn't help but snicker at that. "Accurate nickname for me." The snicker turned to a sound of displeasure as she flicked his nose. "Ow- what was that for?"

"You're stalling! C'mon, you can talk to me, Jaune. That's what friends do," was her response.

He sighed again, not wanting to her to think that he was keeping anything from her. "I know, I'm sorry. The things is… I mean… Have you ever felt like you were being left behind?"

Any sort of visible happiness on Ruby's face was replaced with confusion and seriousness as he asked the question. "What do you mean by that?"

"Like, have you ever thought that maybe things were just going too fast for you? And that you were being left in the dust by other people you cared about? And maybe you'd think to yourself… Whether or not you're good enough." Jaune had now hung his head slightly, eyes more so looking at his jeans than anything else around him.

"Well, I'm not sure if I can relate to all of that, Jaune," Ruby admitted. He closed his eyes, letting out a long exhale again- he figured that she wouldn't know how he felt. She wasn't finished talking, however. "But I do kind of know about the "going too fast" thing."

"You do?" He looked up at her, meeting her silver gaze which now looked a little troubled.

"Yeah- I felt like that on the first day at Beacon. I was pushed ahead two years, and well… It was overwhelming. Not knowing anybody, not fitting in, and…" She paused before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess not knowing if I'd be good enough, you're right… But what does this have to do with you Jaune?"

Even though he was opening up to her, Jaune was feeling sort of claustrophobic being right next to her. He may have grown up in a house with eight women, but talking about his feelings was something that still made him mildly uncomfortable. He stood, turning away from the ledge and walking a few feet before turning back to Ruby, hands in his pockets. "I think that I'm being left behind, Ruby- like all my friends are excelling and getting better, and even though I'm stronger than I was when we came here… I'm going to be alone."

Ruby quickly stood, moving to stand in front of him. "Don't say that Jaune! You're never alone, you have all of your friends."

The blonde shrugged again, not making eye contact again. "But… I don't really, do I." It was a statement rather than a question. "They're all so amazing in every way- and the better they get, the less they'll want to associate with me."

He almost felt bad about the concerned emotion that Ruby was displaying, as it looked to be almost sad. "Jaune, where is all of this coming from? I thought that you were past this."

Again, Jaune wanted to avoid the truth, but there was something about Ruby that made him feel secure, like he could confide anything in her. So he paused, looking at his shoes, and then looked back at her. "... It's Pyrrha."

"What happened with her?"

"Haven't you seen her lately? She's gotten even better at being a huntress, and now with the tournament coming up, she's going to get even better. I'm happy for her, but… She's so out of my universe. I couldn't even get close to her. And now, she's training with other people and I barely see her, and…" He trailed off, turning away from his friend to look at the moon. He didn't want his voice to break in front of her, but he could feel it shaking as he continued.

"I had such a thing for her, Ruby. I thought that maybe she felt the same way… And maybe she did at one point, back when I was too stupid to notice. But now she's gone… She left me behind. And since she's the only one I ever really talked to or trained with… The world just seems like it's too much…." He hadn't been looking at Ruby, so he wasn't sure how she was reacting to his emotions, but he didn't care- he wanted to speak his mind now that he started. As hard as he tried to fight it, Jaune felt a lone tear slide down his cheek as he finished his feelings.

"I'm alone."

Almost immediately, he was spun around by his shoulders. Instead of seeing Ruby's innocent face, Jaune was introduced to her arms wrapping around his waist and the feeling of her head lightly hitting his chest. He staggered slightly, unprepared for the sudden affection, but she held him in place. The sensation of being in her hug was one that Jaune never really figured that he would care for, but in that moment, he didn't really want to be anywhere else. Slowly, he moved his own arms around her back, holding her small form tightly against his. He coughed softly, trying to hide the sniffing that would most definitely have been in it's place. The heat that he was absorbing from her was soothing and made him never want to let go. As he hugged her, she angled her head so she could meet his gaze, and she began to speak the words that Jaune was sure would make him break.

"Do not ever think you're alone Jaune. Maybe you're not super close with a lot of people, but that doesn't mean they don't care about you. You are not less than any of us- you are amazing in every possible way. That's not something that you can ever forget. It might not seem like anyone cares about you at times, but they do- they do care about you Jaune." She squeezed him, a pleading shine in her eyes, as if to beg him to believe her. "I care about you."

Those were the words that made him choke, made him bury his face in her shoulder and hold her as the tears began to leak from his eyes uncontrollably. She didn't judge him at all- she just stood there in his arms and embrace. He could feel her slightly shaking, and he mentally kicked himself for scaring her. But he did feel better this way- in the arms of the only person who'd really stopped to be with him when everyone else sped ahead. She started to pull back at one point, but he held her there.

"Would you… Would you hold me? Just for a little longer-please?"

"Of course, Jaune." The response was exactly what he needed then and there.

It must have been a good five or six minutes before he pulled back, though not fully from her arms, his face hot and wet from all of the emotions that just poured out. He half expected her to look annoyed or fed up with him at this point, but Ruby appeared just as visibly shaken as he did, though there was a small grin on her lips when she realized that he wasn't crying. "Ruby… Thank you- I care about you too and… Just… Thanks."

She giggled lightly, giving him a relieved look. "Aw, Jaune- that's what friends are for!"

He pulled back fully, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah- yeah, I guess it is."

They stood in a silence that spoke more volumes than words ever could. A few moments later, Ruby spoke up, rocking on her heels. "So… We should probably get to sleep- class and everything, you know."

"Yeah, you're right, we should," Jaune agreed in his typical awkward way. "But I think I'll hang here for a bit longer. You can go off though- I'll be fine."

"You sure you won't jump off the roof if I leave?"

"Oh, hardy-har Miss Rose," he scoffed, grinning as she stuck out her tongue playfully. "I think I'll keep the suicide attempts minimal, if it's all the same to you."

Ruby laughed before walking to the door to the roof. "See to it that you do," she joked, pulling the door open. Instead of stepping through it, she turned, looking at him with a happy, yet serious face.

"Hey Jaune? I'm glad you're my friend- you mean a lot to me." Before he could answer, she was gone, and he was now alone on the roof.

Sighing, Jaune looked at the moon. His spirits were lifted and his abilities were reassured to him, but his heart was still somewhat heavy. He knew why, as he pinpointed the second it happened, but he couldn't understand why it did. Ruby had made him feel better about everything more than he thought possible on that night. But there was something she said that stuck with him, and though it wasn't negative, it wasn't really positive either. Jaune sat back down on the ledge, closing his eyes as he focused on the peace of the night, and now that which was in his soul. But Ruby's words still stuck with him.

For reasons unknown to him, he felt a slight disappointment when she called him "friend." As if it wasn't enough, or something.

 _Oh well… Guess I'm just emotionally drained,_ he thought to himself, his eyes watching the sparkling stars.

They now lit up the world around him, invoking a multitude of happy feelings as he slowly smiled. _It really is a nice night..._


	2. Chapter 2: Would You Date Me?

If he was to look back and really reflect on what had happened, Jaune never imagined that this would be the outcome. It had been nearly a month since his moment on the roof with Ruby, and things had stayed relatively the same in his life since then. Though trying to stay more optimistic and upbeat because of her words, reality still seemed like such a cruel mistress. For him, at least. Jaune did his best to converse with his team, to ask for help training and studying and just to make general small talk. It still didn't seem to work- he just couldn't hold a conversation with Nora, and while he appreciated Ren's attention, Jaune knew that his words were more so spoken because he was put on the spot rather than because he actually wanted to converse. It was with Pyrrha that his heart ached most, though. They still rarely spoke, let alone work together on anything that wasn't class related. It made him want to just sit back up on the roof and stare at the sky to forget everything, even for a moment. That being said, there was a part of Jaune's mind that knew being in Ruby's hug would be better for that.

She had surprised Jaune after that night, not only by giving him more smiles and waves during the day than usual, but also with her invitation to hang out with her the next night. He had been making his way back to the top of the building when Ruby stopped him with a call of his name and another embrace. It made him grin to no end- something that he would come to learn would always get him that reaction. She had asked him how he was feeling, and when confirming that he didn't feel terrible, Ruby had asked if he wanted to do some late night training with her.

"Just us though- I don't really think you want Weiss or Yang to kick your ass too hard if they came." Jaune just laughed at this, but also agreed to it. Though, he asked why she wanted to train with him. She had shuffled her feet and grinned a little before answering. "Well, I just thought maybe instead of being alone again, you'd want to spend time with a friend- and I'll definitely try to be your bestest friend if you'd want."

There was a combination of both joyous appreciation at her offer, as well as that same slight twinge of disappointment from the night before. Jaune ignored that bit, not wanting it to get in the way of him saying yes to her. Ruby had grinned wider, and began pulling Jaune away to the gym, where they could work out in peace as it would have no doubt been empty that late at night. That was where it became sort of a routine- each night, the two awkward teens would meet somewhere in the hallway after their teams went to sleep, and would go train together for hours. Jaune knew that he was getting better with the help of both Ruby's advice and charisma. At one point, much to both of their delights, he had even taken her down in a sparring match (though, he couldn't quite understand the way his heart skipped a beat as he pinned her to the floor). This went on for a few days; meeting, training, water break, and parting ways to sleep. As the nights passed however, the sparring and crunches slowly turned more into talking and laughing with one another. Jaune really didn't know just how adorably childish Ruby could be, especially with how wise she also was. As his mother would say, she seemed like "an old soul". He learned over the month about her childhood, her favorite jokes, the types of cookies she liked (a conversation which lasted almost a whole night in itself), and so much more about the young girl than he ever thought he would. He in turn, told her his stories,- and whether it was about the embarrassing dates he'd been on, his family back home or even his emotions on that particular night, she always listened. It was all that Jaune could have asked for- to be listened to and not judged. He was infinitely glad that someone had stopped beside him… And it made him feel a thousand times better about it knowing it was Ruby.

Tonight was the first night that the two of them did no training at all, though it almost started that way. Ruby met Jaune in the hallway and began to drag him towards the gym, but he halted suddenly.

"Hey Ruby, I was thinking- maybe we could do something other than spar tonight?"

She looked at him curiously before a smirk formed on her lips. "You're still sore from last night, aren't you?"

"That is completely…" He began, but stopped as he met the knowing look in her eye. "... One hundred percent true."

She just giggled- Ruby never judged him. "Well, I suppose that we could take a little break for the night. Especially since you beat me last night."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without your teachings, Sensei."

She rolled her eyes, punching his arm lightly. "You're such a dork."

"This coming from you? Isn't that just the pot calling the kettle black?"

"Okay, you have a point there. So, what would you want to do?"

The blonde boy pondered for a moment before smiling. "We could get ice cream!"

Ruby just giggled again. "Jaune, it's midnight- why ice cream?"

"Excuse me, but it is never too late for ice cream," he began, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "And besides, I know a great place near the academy that's open all night… You know, if you'd want to."

"Noooo Jaune! There is _absolutely_ noooo way I'd ever!" She smirked at his fake annoyance, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I love ice cream, let's go."

All the way to the shop, the duo barely looked at the sidewalk in front of them, their gazes fixed on each other as they talked. The topics ranged from how muscular Jaune had gotten from their nights training to Ruby falling off of a refrigerator as a child in an attempt to get a cookie jar. Jaune laughed more with her then he ever did at any other point before then. It was almost as if she had some special power, one that could make all of his bad feelings and depression from the world vanish. Looking into her silver eyes, he knew that the best place to be in life was by her side. Jaune really didn't have any doubts that she had succeeded in becoming his "bestest friend ever."

The doorbell chimed as they walked into the ice cream shop. The man behind the counter gave them a large smile, obviously happy to receive customers in his previously empty store. He waved them over, to which Ruby returned before grabbing Jaune's hand and making him do it too. He shook his head, laughing as they approached the counter.

"Hello guys! What can I do for you this late at night?" The man asked in a chipper tone.

"Hi! Do you have Rocky Road?" Ruby asked eagerly.

"We most certainly do- I'm guessing that'll be for you?"

"Make it a double," she replied, causing Jaune to smile even harder than before. The man guffawed and nodded as he began scooping the dessert into a cone. He handed it to Ruby afterwards, to which she let out a combination of a thanks and a happy giggle. It was the most definitely the most adorable thing Jaune had ever witnessed.

"And for you, young man?" It was then Jaune realized that he had been so caught up on talking to and watching Ruby order that he hadn't decided on what he wanted. Not wanting to stand there waiting, he spit out the first thing that came to mind.

"Red…." He realized after a moment he was still looking at Ruby, so he quickly shot his glance to the man and said more words he hoped would make sense. "Uh, velvet?" The man laughed, going to get his order. Jaune just blushed, which deepened as Ruby nudged his head with hers.

"Excellent choice," she said with a smile, to which he returned, though not making direct eye contact. Had Ruby had been anyone else, that might have seemed extremely embarrassing.

The man returned with his cone and handed it to him. "Alright guys, that'll be six lien."

Ruby moved to get the cash she had in her pocket, but Jaune was already handing the man a handful of ten lien. "Keep the change."

"Thanks a lot, you guys! Have a great night!" The man waved as they left the shop, the bell chiming again as the door closed.

The pair began walking back to Beacon in silence, though that was only because of the ice cream they were eating. Ruby was giving hers quick little licks, an obvious air of happiness to her, while Jaune was slowly consuming his. He didn't even _like_ red velvet- but it had saved him from an awkward situation, so he wasn't about to complain. Glancing at Ruby, something inside of Jaune felt strange as he watched her licking her ice cream. He wasn't sure why, but it made him feel… Slightly uncomfortable? Not really in a bad way, but he averted his eyes as she licked the treat. _Damn, what's UP with me lately?_ _Do I… Like Ruby? Like, REALLY like her? No, I can't… Maybe I'm just tired._

His attention was brought to Ruby again as she spoke, however. "Thanks for paying Jaune, but you know I had money, right? I could have paid for mine."

He shrugged, kicking a pebble as they continued on. "I know, but I wanted to pay for both."

"Really? That's sweet of you."

"Well, any guy should pay on a date." The words escaped his mouth before he realized what he had said. They both stopped in their tracks, Jaune shooting a hand to his mouth. The thought of this being a date hadn't even occurred to _him_. He looked away from Ruby, his hand moving from his mouth to forehead. "I, uh… I didn't mean… Like…"

"This… Was supposed to be a date?" The small girl asked, clearly surprised by his statement.

Jaune shook his head vigorously. "No, no! This wasn't a date! It was just… Like, you know- friend stuff."

Jaune could feel his ice cream start to melt down his fingers, but he was still too nervous to move. There was a long pause before Ruby began speaking again. "Jaune?"

He sighed, hanging his head slightly in shame. "I don't know what to tell you, Ruby… I didn't think this was a date, but throughout the night, it just…" He trailed off for a moment. "I'm sorry if I gave off the wrong impression."

Of all things to come next, he did not expect Ruby booping his nose with her finger to be one of them. "Jaune, don't be sorry- I've been having so much fun tonight. Like, more than I've had in the last few weeks."

"Really?"

"Yeah! You're the greatest to talk to and be with! Arc is definitely number one!" She giggled, causing him to snicker. "And I mean, don't worry about the 'date' thing- I guess that this kind of was a date, after all."

Jaune sighed, thoroughly relieved that she didn't think he was super weird for his mistake. "Thanks Ruby."

"Nothing to thank me for Jaune! It's all good." The two resumed their pace, making their way through the gates of Beacon. Ruby had devoured all of her cone and Jaune just threw his away- he didn't feel very hungry anymore after his mess up. They walked into their dorm building and made their way to their hallway. It was almost three in the morning and they needed to get up for classes tomorrow. They laughed at a joke Ruby had told as they rounded the corner and stepped up to their doors. Jaune paused as Ruby said good night- something was on his mind. A singular question, one that he felt he needed to ask in order to be able to sleep that night- no matter how Ruby would react to it. He just had to know.

"Hey Ruby?" The young leader stopped before she turned her door handle and looked at him, cocking her head slightly. "... Would you ever date me? Like… For real?"

She squinted, humming as she looked up in thought. Jaune felt as though all time had stopped in the moment she deliberated his question. After a few seconds, she slowly shrugged. "I don't know- I'm not sure if that's something I have an answer to yet."

Jaune again felt what seemingly was disappointment inside of him. "Oh... No, it's cool."

"But…" She continued, walking over to him slowly. She hugged him tightly and almost whispered her next statement. "If this was _meant_ to be a date… It was a pretty damn good one." She reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek softly, then turned back to her dorm and stepped inside. "Good night, Jaune."

The door closed quietly, leaving Jaune to himself in the dark hallway. He was frozen in place, the heat of her lips burning through his face and into his soul. Never in his wildest dreams did he think the night would have concluded with _that_. Slowly, he smiled- in that moment, there was no Pyrrha, no depression, and no struggles from the world. There was only the feeling of her kiss and the fire that was now ignited in his chest. Jaune Arc looked at the her door, then turned to his own and stepped inside, the huge grin never vacating his face.

"Good night Ruby- and thank you."


	3. Chapter 3: Would You Catch Me?

Few people knew this, but Jaune had grown up in a very small town, which was mostly populated with farmers and travelling merchants. It was the kind of place that one would come to live in order to escape the hustle and bustle of the big cities, the type of place that allowed one to kick back and relax with the knowledge that the world was elsewhere. It's problems didn't seem as significant back there, to which Jaune attributed as a factor of the world being an issue for him to cope with at times now. While he grew up as no stranger to conflict, it always aided him to know that he was close to his home and family, who would never fail to help him through the difficulties thrown at him. It made him love the town even more knowing his family was always by his side. Despite all of this, there were very few actual things to do for entertainment.

Many of the children grew up playing with one another outdoors, but Jaune really didn't have any friends outside of his family. It was understandable that they didn't want to play with him, as they saw him everyday at home. His only real friend wasn't someone who liked to "play", in the normal sense of the word, as his nose would always be buried in a book or another type of learning device. It bored Jaune, he being a child and all, and so he often had to resort to creating imaginary friends to accompany him on his many adventures through the woods surrounding the town. As much as Jaune Arc loved the place he grew up in, it was more often than not pretty lackluster in terms of the standard idea of fun.

Which is why tonight held something special for him- endless amusement and real friends to spend it with.

Jaune's town didn't have a swimming pool- any recreational swimming was done in the small creek on the eastern side in what essentially equated to a ditch. So the fact that Beacon Academy had a full sized Olympic pool had set off a bomb of excitement inside of him when he first found out. But tonight was something truly significant as the pool was entirely empty- something that he and Ruby had discovered on their way to the gym. The two friends had begun to pass the room, when Ruby noted that is was empty. Jaune looked at her as, seemingly, the same idea started to shape in their minds. After confirming that it was indeed open from the attendant, and that it was so quiet as tonight there was a firework show down in Vale, they raced back to their dorms to grab some swimming attire.

Ruby was flying down the hall, dragging Jaune as she giggled endlessly. "We need to wake our teams so we can all have some late night pool fun!"

Jaune was about to refuse, not wanting to have to face asking Pyrrha to do something else that she would turn down for training with her new friends, but stopped as he remembered her telling Nora that she'd be performing at the fireworks show tonight. "I'll wake Ren and Nora!"

"Yay!" She bounced up to her team's door as they reached their destinations. "See you in a minute, Jaune!" With that, she pecked his cheek and bolted inside, the door slamming behind her.

Jaune would swear that there were fireworks going off inside of him as he stepped into his dorm. Ever their ice cream "date", Ruby had almost never let him leave her side, now during the day as well as their nights together. She'd save him a seat in classes and pull him over to her team's table during lunches. At first he'd decline, saying that he still needed to be the leader of his own team, but things were still nonexistent between Pyrrha and himself. Jaune had only told Ren and Nora about his late night training with Ruby, expecting them to feel betrayed, but they didn't. Ren had told him that he and Nora weren't upset with him for training with Ruby, and wanted him to sit with the small girl- they could see how happy he was with her and supported their time together. Especially since Pyrrha would be there at their table, they didn't want any in-fighting to break out amongst the two, who clearly not on the same page much anymore. Jaune had thanked him profusely, saying he'd still try to be the best leader he could be, to which Ren had just smiled and told Jaune that perhaps, that statement was already true.

Back in the present moment, Jaune moved over to Ren and Nora, who were curled up in the same bed. He could see the peace that rested in Ren's expression, despite the snoring coming from his partner. Knowing very well that waking Ren was no easy task in the mornings, let alone at almost midnight, the blonde boy knew that he'd need assistance. He leaned over to Nora and nudged her shoulder gently. She almost instantly woke, her eyes shooting open and looking at Jaune in confusion.

"Jaune? Why is it so dark... Are we in bed? I don't think that Ren would like that..."

Jaune shook his head, realizing what she meant. "No Nora, that's not- never mind. Look, me and team RWBY are going swimming. The pool's empty and we wanted you guys to come with us."

His plans worked like a charm. Nora gasped, her mouth wide in a grin, and Jaune had to jump back as she pounced on Ren as she began shaking him awake. He cried out in surprise, grabbing his bed frame as he blinked himself awake. "Ren, c'mon and wake up! We're going swimming!"

"Nora!" The shout Ren gave her was drowned in her excited giggling as she hauled him over to their dresser. Jaune heard him sigh, clearly not about to win any sort of argument against her that would go down. Chuckling at the display, Jaune pulled on some shorts and ran to the door. He made sure to wait until Ren and Nora were dressed in their swimwear before pulling open the door, only to see Ruby and her team standing in front of him. She had her hand raised, as if about to knock. Grinning at Ruby and waving to her team, he motioned the two members of his team over.

"Come on guys- let's get to that pool!" Jaune heard Yang and Nora cheer as they all began sprinting towards their destination. There would no doubt be noise complaints from the students in their dorms trying to sleep, seeing as how they were making all kinds of racket as they thundered down the halls. The blonde boy found Ruby's hand in his as they ran- something that nearly made his heart skip at the mere feeling of her skin on his. Her carefree smile could light up his darkest nights, and would never fail to make him feel like he was flying. She led him through twists and turns, their teams trying to catch up to them. They finally approached the double doors to the pool, which Ruby had no problem kicking open with full force.

"Alright teams- _operation pool party is a go!_ " She screamed, pointing in the air excitedly. It was around that moment that the party did indeed begin. Yang picked up Blake and, much to the faunus' horror, jumped straight in the cool water. Nora tried to do the same to Ren, but the rudely awakened boy was having none of it, instead guiding her into the deep end slowly as she clung to his neck. Weiss simply rolled her eyes at the childish displays and sat on the edge, dangling her legs freely in the water. Jaune felt a wash of joy overcome him as he watched his friends all having fun in the pool, any and all bad feelings and thoughts of his seemingly gone for the night. It was perfect- almost. He began to turn to his best friend to offer her a hand in- but instead of receiving her gentle grasp, Jaune felt two strong arms shove him backwards hard, causing him to topple backwards into the water. The liquid consumed him as he landed, sinking to the bottom before he shook the surprise out of his mind. Swimming up, Jaune broke the surface and was immediately greeted by the sight of a red bikini wearing Ruby, holding her stomach in laughter from her actions.

Again, that feeling hit Jaune. It was beginning to happen more and more lately, whenever he and Ruby spent time together. It was never at a specific time, however, but it always involved her. Sometimes it struck him when she leaned against his shoulder, or when she would giggle too hard at her own jokes. He wasn't fully aware of what the emotion should have been classified as, but Jaune did know one thing for a fact- whenever the Ruby gave him that feeling, he loved it to an endless extent. So he smiled and joined her laughter, well aware their teams were doing the same. He didn't mind- she was happy, and that never failed to make him happy.

"You had better get in here before I have to come throw you in!" Jaune's words were nothing but playful, prompting the small girl to stick her tongue out at him. Shaking his head, he motioned towards him, but the look that overtook her eyes informed him that she had a plan brewing.

This was confirmed as she held a finger up to him. "Wait there!" She turned and started to walk away from the pool. Though uncertain of her meaning, Jaune did what she asked. As he waited, he felt the water sloshing beside him, indicating someone approaching. He glanced over his shoulder to see a very wet, very irritated Blake, no doubt annoyed at Yang for putting her in the water against her will. This expression seemed to soften however, as she waded up to his side, and began to become replaced with a look of… Wonder? It was the only word Jaune could use to be remotely accurate as to the true nature of the look.

"She really cares about you- I hope you know that," the faunus started nodding to Ruby. "I've never seen her as happy as she is when she talks about you."

The statements led Jaune to sigh in a mixture of joy and relief. "Well, I guess that I'm doing something right."

Blake's golden eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Yang dragging Weiss by the leg into the water before returning to him. "Obviously- she's happier with you than any of us." Jaune was about to reject that, as it was just something that he couldn't believe, when she continued. "That being said… Treat her right. She's young, and doesn't deserve the heartbreak and unnecessary difficulties that life throws at us."

Her seriousness was evident, and it was something that Jaune understood. "I know all about life's difficulties, Blake. So I promise- I won't hurt her. She's my best friend."

"Well, okay." She flashed him a small grin, a definite rarity for anyone to receive. "But don't promise me- promise her."

"Hey Jaune!" He turned back to Ruby, who was waving at him from about twenty feet away. She had a hopeful sense to her aura, one that intrigued Jaune was to what she had in store for him. "Would you catch me? Pleeeeease?"

Jaune couldn't stop the complete happiness that rushed through his chest. Ruby, with her childlike innocence and adventurous demeanor, had infiltrated every bit of Jaune's life and heart- and he wouldn't want to have it any other way. He opened his arms and gestured to his bare chest. "Absolutely! Jump right here- I got you!"

In what could have been interpreted as a squeal, Ruby rushed forward towards him, all of life radiating off of her small form in that moment. Jaune stood confidently, prepared to catch her, when Blake asked one last thing as she began to swim back to the side of the pool.

"You sure you're going to catch her?"

Jaune hadn't doubted his abilities before then, but he was now unsure of himself slightly- the last that he wanted to happen was for him to let down Ruby during the most simple of tasks."Uh… I-"

He never got to finish his words. Ruby hit him squarely where he had motioned, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did so. Being Ruby, however, her unmatched speed had given her more velocity than Jaune had expected her to have, especially with her size. The two were thrown back upon impact down into the water. Jaune's powerful aura had protected him from any sort of serious injury, but it had knocked the wind out of him- which was not the ideal predicament to be in when underwater. Deciding to ignore the burning sensation the chlorine would give him, Jaune slowly opened his eyes to survey his current surroundings- and he instantly glad that he did. Ruby was on top of him, her lips only a few inches from his own as they floated peacefully a couple of feet from the surface. The lights from the ceiling refracted through the water, causing her to seemingly glow. Her black hair flowed freely around her as the silver gaze met Jaune's blue. He had wrapped his arms around her waist and was holding her as close against his body as she could be. There was no audible noise except for Jaune's beating heart in his ears. Ruby smiled, a few bubbles being released as she did so. Every part of Jaune's body froze then and there. The sight, the situation, the emotional war in his mind had rendered him unable to move in the slightest. He was vaguely aware that he was staring into her eyes, but he couldn't do anything to pull away. He didn't _want_ to pull away. The corners of Ruby's mouth dipped slightly as he coughed, not fully registering that he was running out of air, before the grin returned in a rather mischievous manner. Jaune didn't even have time to think about deciphering what it could mean, as Ruby closed the distance between the them and pushed her lips against his.

There was no way for Jaune to describe what he felt in that moment. It was like becoming a celestial god, receiving all of the universe's power at once. The fact that he didn't become completely overwhelmed by the tidal wave of feelings was unexplainable, but that didn't matter- nothing in existence mattered except Ruby Rose. His senses became unresponsive for a mere second before a rush of air filled his lungs. Jaune didn't understand what was going on, as just as suddenly she kissed him, Ruby pushed herself away from his hold and back to the surface. He floated there, still not entirely sure of what just happened, but was forced back to reality as an arm literally forced him back the surface. Inhaling hard as he hit oxygen, Jaune grasped at the side of the pool as Ren, still holding his arm, aided him. The blonde boy was still panting hard as he realized both teams were now crowded around him, looks of curiosity visible on all of them. He jumped a bit as a hand touched his back, but almost immediately relaxed as he glanced over his shoulder, seeing Ruby rubbing his shoulders gently. She appeared sheepish- no mischief was visible anymore on her.

"Damn Jaune, Ruby _nailed_ you!" Yang exclaimed, slapping his back playfully and causing him to cough and jolt forward. "You okay? That must have been _so_ painful!"

"Yeah Jaune- when you guys didn't come up at first, I was like 'oh man, they're _dead!'_ But then Ren saw Ruby come up and it was like, relief," Nora added, flailing her hands around as she did. Ren just sighed, explaining that when Ruby came up and Jaune didn't he decided to pull him out himself.

The blonde boy shook his head, water flinging in all directions as he did. "Guys, it's alright! I'm fine! Just… Got a bit winded there, you know?"

Two arms circled his waist as he felt Ruby's chest press against his back (another interaction with her that he found he didn't mind). "I'm really sorry Jaune! I wanted to let you catch me… And I guess I kinda ended up letting you almost drown."

The others laughed along with Jaune as he did, turning enough so that he could give Ruby a hug. "Ah, don't worry about it- I'm still alive." He nudged her head with his and then turned to their teams. "C'mon guys- this is supposed to be a party! Let's not have this ruin it."

Everyone nodded, turning and swimming back out to the center of the pool, giggling as Yang began to chase Weiss with a pool noodle. Before Ruby could join, however, Jaune grabbed her hand, prompting her attention. "Ruby… What was that? You know- when we were… Underwater?"

She cocked her head with a smile. "You looked like you needed some air- Might've been kind of embarrassing if you passed out like that."

"But… That was a kiss!"

The smile now had a returned shade of mischief to it. "Whatever do you mean, Jaune?" Ruby asked innocently, sticking her tongue out slightly and shooting him a wink. Without waiting for a response, she turned and swam towards her friends, leaving Jaune flabbergasted at the side of the pool. There was no way that she would've said that if she didn't have feelings beyond friendship for him… Would she? This time, Jaune couldn't come up with a reason for that feeling once again returning to his gut. This time, there was no other alternative- he knew for certain, in that moment, what the feeling as.

 _Love. Oh man, I'm in love with my best friend!_ His mental shout was followed by another thought. _Wait, so does she… Love me? No, absolutely not! There's no way she'd want to be more than friends! I mean… Right?_

The great debate within his head was interrupted by Blake lightly pushing his shoulder with hers. Thankfully, she gave no indication of having heard the exchange between him and Ruby. "Well, looks like you caught her."

Jaune stared at the girl who had had been his entire world for the last two months of his life. The person who he'd give anything for, the person who was the only thing stopping the bad thoughts from surrounding him again. She was his best friend, his rock, his shoulder to lean on and so much more. The one who held hands, his happiness and now his heart, and he realized something. He was the luckiest guy on the planet to have a friend like her, and it was all because of that night on the roof. Jaune Arc smiled as he watched Ruby splash Yang, giggling all the while.

"Actually… I think she caught me."


	4. Chapter 4: Would You Fight Me?

As much as he would have liked to have said otherwise, Jaune Arc had never been the most popular with the ladies. Asking women out on a date, confessing any sort of feelings, even just talking to them had him nervous and feeling out of his element. This was the case for his entire life, though middle school was by far the worst as it had been during the beginning of his awkward transition from tween to teen. He had a few dates here and there, of course, but those more often than not ended in some kind of disaster or depression. Somehow, Jaune always managed to ruin the moment, whenever they may have been, in some unpredicted and ridiculous way. His date being allergic to the flowers he brought, he spilling coffee on his date, his date being attacked by a swarm of bees as he hung upside down from a branch (that hadn't been his finest of moments)- the list went on. No matter how hard he tried, Jaune just wasn't lucky with the girls. Before Beacon, it even got to the point where he couldn't converse with many of them, as his words would just morph into jumbled english halfway through a statement. He really believed that any chemistry between himself and a woman would be nothing more than a dream from then on- until he met Ruby.

From the moment that he laid eyes on the girl, Jaune knew that he wanted to talk to her. So, mustering up courage that he didn't even realize that he had within him, he did so and offered her a hand after she had exploded in front of the school (yeah- exploded). Talking with her just seemed so simple, so good compared to others. He knew that she was one of his best friends right away, but that night on the roof… It had set Jaune on a course that he never imagined travelling on before. Now, not only was every interaction with Ruby special, but rewarding- especially when considering the amount of training that he had accomplished every night with her. One look at his body now, after three months of late night sessions, would make any girl swoon over the blonde boy. Needless to say, the attention was nice- but Jaune no longer cared for just any random woman's attention. It had become obvious to himself after the pool party with teams RWBY and JNPR that the only person he wanted to notice him was Ruby. That was the night that Jaune had finally understood that what he felt towards her was more than just simple friendship- specifically the moment where she had kissed him underwater. It still rocked his world every time he thought about it, making him smile harder than anything else would. Ruby, however, had not brought up the event since it happened a month before, but it didn't bother Jaune. While he had spent a significant amount of time wondering whether or not she shared his feelings previous to that time, he didn't really have to anymore- it wasn't hard to see that she did, at least in some capacity.

Ruby never seemed to try and hide it, either. Jaune hadn't been oblivious to the fact that their sparring was now almost always as physical as it could be, leaving neither of them short on contact with each other. Their conversations were now spent with their arms around one another or with her on his lap, her head resting against his neck. The feeling of Ruby's warm breath against his throat mixed with her fingertips grazing his arms and chest every now and then made Jaune want to faint- it was like they were really together, and that was what it would have looked like for anyone who may have seen. Unfortunately, it was merely platonic- but at the same time, it wasn't. It made Jaune confused at times, how she would kiss his cheek after a workout, how she'd run a hand down his back during a walk, how she would wink at him throughout their classes during the day… Yet, she'd never seem to mention any of it. Not that he asked, however- Jaune figured that Ruby had her reasons for not bringing any of it up, and he was perfectly content with leaving it how it was, at least for the moment.

After the pool party, in fact, everything in Jaune's life seemed to be totally looking up… Almost. He was receiving better grades (as his training with Ruby extended into homework now as well), his physical appearance was god-like compared to what it had once been, and his confidence began to rise while the bad feelings and depression fell. Ren and Nora were now some of his closest friends, as he had spent that month trying to live up to his promise to be the best leader he could be. Conversations with Nora were now one of Jaune's favorite pastimes, her endless ramblings launching him into a dizzying world of content. Chilling with Ren was also more fun now that he had an appreciation for the quiet boy's peaceful nature and insight. All of that combined with his ever growing magical nights with Ruby, everything looked to be turning up Arc- except for Pyrrha. It still hurt to see her walk from their dorm every morning, not to seen again until class or the evening before Jaune was to go train, though it was almost so routine at this point that Jaune would just sigh and shake his head. He tried to talk to her and ask her to spend some time with them, and she was always polite in her response, but it was always a gentle refusal and apology. The blonde boy knew that he couldn't be angry with her- Pyrrha wanted to win the tournament more than anything, and he supported her fully in her endeavors… But that wasn't to say that he didn't missed her companionship, nor did it hurt any less when she turned down his offer.

But now, just over three months since his rooftop experience, Jaune could not stop to ponder his feelings for the red-haired warrior. All he could do was fight.

Ruby had never took it easy on Jaune whenever it came to their late night sessions. Every night resulted in him dripping with sweat and struggling to regain his breath, no matter whether he beat her or how good of shape he was in now. Even if she were to lose, Ruby always worked him until he could barely get back to his dorm on his feet. Jaune of course, didn't mind- anything that would let him see her beautiful smile was worth it, even if she did had to practically drag him to his room. Tonight was no exception. Jaune was in the fight of his life… And he loved every second of it. The thrill of battle and the fact that he was fighting his best friend made the experience so much more enjoyable, not to mention that it was hand-to-hand. No weapons, no semblances- just pure close combat. And it was about as close as they could get. Jaune found himself breathing hard as he blocked Ruby's punch and attempted to sweep her off of her feet. She hopped over his foot and kicked the back of his knee. Coming to expect such a counter, he fell with it, and hauled her down with him. The young girl hit the mat, the noise echoing around the empty gym around them. Jaune got on top of her, pinning on hand to her side and managed to grab the other and force it above her head. Ruby tried to bring a knee into his side, but he anticipated just that and moved his waist so she hit nothing but the air. He then shifted so his knee held her leg to the floor, and then proceed to twist the arm above her head to the side. The resistance in Ruby was strong, but her position on the ground didn't allow her anyway to get out of the predicament. She groaned as her arm was forced sideways further, and she tapped her other hand against Jaune's thigh, indicating submission. He smiled, internally cheering at his victory, and relaxed his grip on the girl.

"All right! Looks like I win again! What's that, like three nights in a row Ruby? Are you even trying anymore?" He flashed her a playful grin, which she returned with a sigh.

"Hey, don't get cocky with me mister! I will work your ass until you break tomorrow."

"Promise?" She laughed at his response, shaking the beads of sweat away from her eyes. Jaune felt that same feeling rush over him that had been happening nearly every day as of late- there was no way he could tell himself anymore that he didn't love Ruby. She meant everything to him. He removed his grip from her arm and placed his hand on the ground beside her head to hold him up above her. She hummed contently, and Jaune could feel the hand that had tapped now tracing a circle on his stomach. Ruby's other arm began to snake around his neck, and the boy began to feel his heartbeat quicken. He met her silver gaze, innocent and sincere- for only a moment. It wasn't a second after that spark of mischief flashed in her eyes that Jaune found himself slammed to the mat, Ruby on top of him. She had hooked her arm around his neck, and used the time he was distracted to flip him underneath her. Her small, yet incredibly powerful, arm still held around his neck and was now forcing it up and to the side. The slightest bit of fear entered Jaune's thoughts, if only from the fact that knowing if he had been an enemy, Ruby could snap his neck instantly in this position. Obviously, she did not do this, but did apply steady pressure until Jaune tapped her shoulder with his free hand. Immediately, she was off and standing above him, a huge grin spread on her lips.

"Even when you win Jaune, I always come out on top." She giggled, and even though he had just been thrown to the ground and forced to submit, Jaune smiled back at her. There was no way that he could resist. She offered him a hand, which he took and was pulled to his feet. The feeling that Jaune received upon looking down at her was one that he never wanted to live without. He shook his head, sighing.

"You can never let me have just one, can you?"

"Nope." She shook her head before cocking her head and grinning again. "But you love it."

Jaune ran a hand through his hair. "And what evidence do you have to support this, Miss Rose?"

Ruby rubbed her chin, eyeing him as if she were an authority figure. "If I could direct the court's attention to my first piece of evidence-" Without warning, she stood on her toes and kissed him the corner of his mouth, dangerously close to his lips. Jaune's face burned with the blush that arose, and Ruby smirked. "I think that really says it all."

"...You are really something, you know that?"

"Yang tells me that on a daily basis," came her reply as she grabbed his hand once more, pulling him to their bags. "C'mon- we should shower before we go back. Tonight was pretty intense."

Jaune nodded, following her hand in hand. After picking up the bags, the two made their way to the men and women's change rooms that were on the other side of the gym. Even though they were only about fifty feet away, Ruby continuously bumped her shoulder against Jaune's, and pretended to be shocked when he returned the favor. It made Jaune infinitely happy- the innocence, the fun and adorable nature that Ruby housed never failed to light up his life. It made him even more thankful that he'd been on the roof the night that he was. There was no way in hell that he could imagine his life any different than it was now. Everyday with her was so much _fun_ , and it was something that Jaune cherished with every fibre of his being.

"Alright, don't take too long- we have to huge history test tomorrow morning, and if you fall asleep during it, I'm using you as target practice tomorrow." Jaune rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out at Ruby as they let go of each other.

"Duly noted. But you better not take forever either- I'd hate to have to carry a naked Ruby Rose out through the building back to her room."

Ruby snickered, pausing as she pulled the woman's change room door. "Oh, no you wouldn't- it would be the highlight of your week." She returned the tongue before disappearing behind the door. Jaune just sighed, shaking his sweaty hair out of his face and stepping into his own change room. She really was something.

He made his way around the corner to where the showers were. The area they were located in was a giant room without any stalls- just one big, communal square with multiple showerheads. Since the first time he used them at Beacon, Jaune was in no way a fan of having to shower out in the open with other guys. Of course, there were shower stalls on his floor, so he usually just waited until he was back to his dorm from class before going to clean himself. It wasn't that he had any reason to be ashamed of his body, but he was at his maximum comfort level when the only person who could see him showering was himself. With the gym being empty however, Jaune could relax knowing that he wouldn't be disturbed here now. Throwing the bag a few feet away on the shower floor so it wouldn't get wet, he groaned as he pulled his shirt over his head, his muscles slightly burning from overuse. Ruby had definitely given him something to be sore about tonight. Discarding his clothes on top of the bag, Jaune reached out and grasped the shower handle and turned it to the left. Water immediately shot down onto his body, and he gasped at the sudden cold that hit him. It only lasted a moment though, as the liquid quickly began to increase in warmth. He allowed a relaxed breath to escape his lips, relishing the feeling of the now hot water pouring down on him. Jaune could practically feel his muscles losing their tension and the sweat being rinsed from his hair. It was a magnificent feeling, one that always helped ease him back to reality. Something somewhat necessary for after a Ruby workout. After a few moments, he moved his head down so that he could open his eyes to look at himself. The grin that formed couldn't be suppressed- he was _definitely_ happy with how these training sessions were treating him. His abs were now a visible six pack, and though not super chiseled, Jaune was happy with them nonetheless. He began to study his arms, just as proud and impressed with them, when he heard a noise coming from the door of the change room. He paused, listening to a possible intruder, but heard nothing over the sound of the shower he was standing under. Somewhat hesitantly, Jaune let himself be be consumed by the warmth one more. It wasn't like anyone would be there at that hour anyways. This thought lasted but a moment as Jaune heard something again- something familiar, something that caused immediate panic to flood through him and nearly stopped his heart.

"Jaune? I think you-"

The voice halted in its tracks, and Jaune whipped his head over to the entrance to the shower area… Where Ruby stood, her jaw dropped as she stared at him. It was not only the fact that she was staring at him that made Jaune's entire world freeze- it was that coupled with the fact that she was dripping wet, only covered in a red towel that reached down to her knees. She was in a better position than Jaune, however, who was literally one hundred percent exposed to his best friend and the girl that he was in love with. But he couldn't move; he had locked up completely, just staring back at Ruby as a million unwanted thoughts screamed within his skull. He wanted to run, wanted to hide, but all he could do was stare. For what must have been thirty seconds, the two observed each other, Ruby sporting a mad blush to which Jaune almost certainly mirrored. Finally, Jaune regained the ability to do one thing only- speak.

"RUBY!" He choked out, his voice high pitched. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"I…" Ruby started, but fumbled on the words, and Jaune wanted to die from the fact that she was still looking at him- and from the position of her eyes, he had a pretty good idea at what part of him she was staring at. "Uh… You, um… You're big- _I MEAN YOUR BAG!_ I took… I took your bag… Instead of- of mine…"

Despite Jaune's face most certainly burning of red embarrassment, he forced his gaze to Ruby's shoulder, where she did indeed have his gym bag hanging. He opened his mouth once again to speak, but faltered momentarily. He was still too much in shock to move his body in any way, and the absolutely embarrassed and guilty looking expression that harbored Ruby's face did nothing to make words easier. How badly he wanted to turn away, to stop inspecting her towelled form… To remove said towel… To inspect further…

 _NO! Do not think about that,_ he mentally shouted to himself. _The LAST thing that I need is to get all riled up NOW of all times!_ Shoving the desirable thoughts to the side as best he could, Jaune finally responded. "Oh… Thanks… Your bag is- is over there…"

The speed at which Ruby glanced over and rushed to her bag was nearly incomprehensible (though, Jaune really couldn't comprehend much in that moment to begin with). She switched the two objects out and dashed out the entrance. "I'M SO SORRY, JAUNE!" Were the words she all but yelled multiple times as she ran, the sound of her voice only dying down when the change room door slammed shut.

Jaune's mind could barely even register what just took place. A huge part of him felt absolutely freaked out- _no_ girl had ever seen him naked before now, much less one that he considered his best friend. That being said, another part of him wanted to laugh- the whole scenario just seemed so unreal, so comical, like it would never happen. This was a significantly tiny part though, as he remained paralyzed, only being able to move again once the shower ran cold. With this event, Jaune quietly turned off the water, dried himself off and got dressed. His brain almost refused to work, only replaying the sight of a near-nude Ruby seeing _him_ nude over and over. He was almost afraid to open the door to the change room once he was finished everything, but it wasn't like he could hide there all night. Taking a deep breath, he exited to see Ruby leaning against the wall a few feet away. She looked towards him, but shot her glance to the floor immediately, a blush once again rising to her cheeks. It worried Jaune- obviously he was embarrassed as well, but this one event could have changed everything between them. Not wanting his concern to show visibly, he silently walked next to her, and the two awkward teens began to make their way back to their dorms.

The walk started dead quiet, Jaune not even daring to look at Ruby again. It most likely would have stayed that way, but the boy was curious as to why she had just made her way inside the men's room like that. He didn't want to add any fuel to the awkward fire that had been lit between the two, but Jaune always had prefered knowing rather than guessing. "Hey… So, like… Why did you just- come in?"

Ruby didn't respond right away, and Jaune did not need to look at her to tell that the scarlet on her face had deepened. "Well… I called your name from the door a couple of times… But when you didn't answer, I just… Came in. I thought there'd be stalls on the showers! The girl's change room has stalls!"

"Oh…" Trailing off, Jaune kept moving in silence once again, pondering as to why the hell the girls would get walls on their showers and he didn't. Ruby also made no attempt at conversation, and it only increased the level of worry inside of his chest. Sure, this was a pretty bad event to occur, and the rapidly shifting emotions they both now had were almost palpable, but Jaune did not want this to ruin things with Ruby. And if stereotypical high school movies had taught him anything, this was the beginning of the end of their friendly relationship. The two got to their rooms minutes later, and continued to have speech absent as they dug their keys out of their bags. Jaune heard the sound of Ruby inserting her key card and then, surprisingly, her voice.

"Good night, Jaune." She was started to turn the handle, but Jaune suddenly, and without much thought at all as to what he was doing, spun and grasped her shoulder, prompting her to let go of the door and turn as well.

"Wait!" He could see the shock that his actions had triggered on her face- she clearly wasn't expecting any sort of conversation to take place tonight between them again. Then again, neither did he before he acted. Sighing, Jaune let go of her, moving his hand to his forehead. He wanted to say both so many and so little things there and then, but the jumbled thoughts were barely allowing him to even pick one at random. Ruby stayed still, studying him in a nervous sort of wonder. After what felt like an hour, Jaune finally continued. "We're… We're good, right?"

The fact that team RWBY's leader did not answer him right away made Jaune's stomach turn, but that wasn't something that lasted long. "Jaune… Of course we're good. It's just… You know- freaky!"

"I can definitely agree on that."

Ruby leaned against her door, a hand on her cheek as she shook her head, though Jaune could see a small grin starting on her lips. "It just that, you know, I've never seen a guy _naked_ before! It's just so… Weird!"

"Uh, ouch?" Jaune found himself chuckling, despite his still lingering thoughts of worry, as Ruby shoved his shoulder slightly.

"No, I don't mean it like that! It was just like ' _wooow- so that's what it looks like'_ , you know?"

"You mean, like… _Big?_ " Jaune couldn't even fathom why he was teasing her after what just happened, since he too felt super weird about it too. But it didn't backfire on him, as Ruby's blush now consumed her whole face.

" _SHUT UP!_ That was super embarrassing, okay?" She smacked his arm, but let out a small laugh as she did, indicating to Jaune that he hadn't taken anything too far. "But, c'mon- you know what I mean."

He shook his head, waving his hand in front of his face. "I know what you're saying, yeah- I just didn't want things to get… You know… Messed up between us."

"Jaune." Ruby stepping up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist was unexpected to the boy, to say the very least, but was not unwanted. "Nothing could mess up what we have. You're my best friend! And even though yeah, seeing you that suddenly without clothes was a little scary to be honest, I'm never going to think anything bad of you. If anything, you should think bad of me for walking in on you."

Jaune found himself moving his arms around her back. "I could never think badly of you either, Ruby- I mean, yeah, I freaked out there too. But it was an accident, so there's no reason to be upset. Besides, I got to see you in a towel, so I suppose we're even."

She giggled softly, though the blush had not left her. "Maybe not _even_ , but close enough for tonight." She hugged him tightly then, her height being elevated as she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. Jaune nearly melted- this was _way_ more than he could have hoped for tonight, especially after all the shower business. Ruby loosened the hug slightly, though not leaving his arms. "You know Jaune, with how amazing you are and how amazing you look, you could totally get any girl out there."

"Only if it's you." The statement had jumped from his lips before Jaune even had a chance to think about it (something that he really needed to work on). His body locked up, all of the feelings of worry rushing back in waves. _Damn, am I just trying to weird out Ruby as much as I can? What is WRONG with me?_ As he mentally chastised himself, Ruby fixed her gaze on his, the surprise of his response fairly obvious in her silver eyes. He prepared for her to pull away, flee into her dorm, yell at him, whatever may have come- but none of it did. What did come was something that Jaune would never have imagined occurred after everything between them earlier that night- Ruby's gentle hand caressing his cheek as she pressed her lips against his.

Much like at the pool party, Jaune's world pretty much exploded then and there. It was just as it had been before- sweet and purposeful. It was not a heated kiss, nor a desperate one, but a simple soft, adorable lip lock which harbored a slightly hidden passion behind it's gentleness. Any bad feeling that may have been inside of Jaune in that moment were eradicated instantly and were replaced with a feeling of euphoria. He had dreamed about Ruby's kiss since he had received it a month ago, but it was even more amazing than he has remembered it- especially as this time, she did not pull away quickly. She remained on his lips, and with each second that passed, Jaune could swear his heartbeat got louder. His eyes began to close as he enjoyed the sensation, both of her mouth and her hand against his face. He pulled her against him fully, and Jaune could feel her smile through the kiss. It was magic- pure and simple. And Jaune never wanted it to end.

Unfortunately, Ruby pulled back about fifteen seconds into the kiss, much to Jaune's disappointment. She opened her now closed eyes slowly, an unmistakable gleam behind them that Jaune knew for sure he mirrored. She did not speak at first- just stared into his blue eyes with a smile that lit up every nerve in his body. But when she did, Jaune swore her voice had been replaced with a heavenly choir.

"Who's to say that you don't already have me?" Flashing a quick wink, Ruby stepped back out of his arms and turned, unlocking the door to her room once again. She opened it and cocked her head over her shoulder, a look of beautiful happiness upon her face. "Good night Jaune." With those words, the door closed, and Jaune was left alone in the hall.

For a time, the blonde boy didn't move, his feet feeling as though they had taken root on the floor beneath him. Billions of emotions rampaged through his skull, and he had no idea on how to even react to what just occurred. Eventually however, the biggest grin that Jaune ever knew rose to his face. He leapt in the air, throwing his fist above his head in silent celebration. It was, without a doubt, _the best_ moment of his life- nothing could compare to here and now. He flung open his door after unlocking it, practically floated into his room and shut it behind him, the weight of the world lifted completely off of him. Jaune sighed happily as he rested his forehead against the door, suppressing the joyous laughter from escaping. Nothing could knock him off cloud nine- this was the night where everything went Arc.

"Jaune?" The sudden voice made him almost rip the door off it's hinges as he spun around. Though initially startled, Jaune calmed down as soon as he saw who was standing behind him. Though it was dark in the room, Pyrrha stood in front of her bed, her hands clasped in front of her. She had a somewhat nervous expression as she looked at him, which was more than enough to invoke the same emotion in Jaune. The previous few minutes with Ruby had stopped him from feeling anything too serious, but the sight of Pyrrha seemingly waiting for him in the room at this time of the night was not normal, especially since she had begun to train for the tournament.

"Pyrrha? What are you doing up?"

The red haired girl gave a small, but warm smile. "I could ask you the same thing Jaune, but I do not really need to- I just wanted to talk to you, if you have a moment for me."

Jaune really did not know what to expect from this- Pyrrha hadn't really talked with him in three months after all, and he didn't remember doing or saying anything as of late that would make her upset with him. She seemed slightly bothered by whatever was on her mind, so he made sure to tread carefully. "Of course Pyrrha- we're teammates. I always have time for my team."

Her smile seemed to turn sad. "Yes… Teammates. I suppose right now, we are not really much more than that, are we?" Jaune was going to deny the question, but she continued. "Jaune… I am sorry. I have been a bad team member, and a bad friend. It was not my intention, but I am so sorry."

"What are you talking about Pyrrha? You're still my-"

"I know everything, Jaune," Pyrrha interrupted, her head gesturing towards the sleeping Ren and Nora. "They told me everything."

The last thing that Jaune wanted was for Pyrrha to know about how he felt regarding her absence as of late, especially when he considered how much the tournament meant to her. But the look on her face suggested she may already know. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at his feet in an attempt to avoid her gaze. "...What exactly did they tell you?"

Pyrrha began to step towards him, biting her lip nervously, until she was directly in front of him. "Well, they told me how you feel about me training for the tournament-"

"I want you to train though! It's important to you, and I want you to be happy!"

Jaune was stopped from saying anything else by Pyrrha reaching out and pulling him into a gentle hug- something that Jaune _never_ expected to feel again, if he were to be honest. "But you are also important to me, Jaune! Ren and Nora told me that you felt alone, that I was leaving you behind as I went forward. That you were hurt that I turned down your offers to train and spar, and that you were doing it with Ruby now..." She trailed off, pulling back and looking Jaune in the eye again. He could see the regret and sorrow that she housed, and he immediately felt stupid for feeling so bad about everything.

"Pyrrha-"

"Jaune… I want you to know that I am sorry. I want to win this tournament more than anything… But I suppose that in preparing for it, I abandoned and hurt you. I am so sorry for that, you were my very best friend…" She squeezed her eyes shut, pulling him closer. "I hope that you will forgive me…"

Everything negative that Jaune may have felt about Pyrrha up to this point was instantly gone. He knew that she hadn't meant to neglect him- he couldn't be angry at her for doing what she loved to do. He hugged her back, sighing as he nudged her cheek with his. "C'mon Pyrrha, it isn't your fault! You're passionate about what you do- if anything, I'm sorry for feeling so hurt by something like that. I know you weren't doing it on purpose."

The warrior shook her head quickly. "Jaune, please do not apologize for the way you feel- you are the sweetest, most caring friend anyone could ask for. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Then you don't either. You're still my friend Pyrrha, and that was never something I wanted to change."

She sighed in relief, sniffing a bit as she kissed his cheek. "Thank you Jaune." She then leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Ruby is a very lucky girl to have you."

Jaune's heart skipped a beat at the words- what had Ren and Nora told her about _that?_ "Pyrrha-"

"Wow Jaune," she again interrupted, cutting Jaune off as if to avoid the question that would follow. "Nora was not exaggerating when she said that you were much more muscular! You must have been working hard."

He let out a quiet chuckle, deciding to let the Ruby thing go, at least for now. "Uh, thanks! I wanted to show you a bunch of times, along with how good at fighting I've gotten, but you were always sparring with the others guys in the tournament, so…"

Pyrrha frowned a bit at this. "I see." She paused, but then physically lit up when she continued. "If that is the case, then how about we go see now? I know that it is late, and that we have a test in the morning, but I believe that, being so far behind on our training together, we need to make up for lost time."

Jaune couldn't easily believe what he was hearing- this night had been so insane in terms of normality, but this was something that he didn't expect under _any_ circumstances. He thought about asking her to wait until tomorrow or another day, considered telling her that he was too tired and had already showered. But the longer he looked at the sincerity and lingering guilt on Pyrrha's face, Jaune just couldn't justify refusing. He did miss her, and want her to be proud of what he had accomplished thus far in her absence. So, after months and months, he took her hand and nodded, flashing her a smile of acceptance and good faith.

"Sounds like fun Pyrrha."

"So… Would you fight me?" Her voice was hopeful, and Jaune nodded- there was no way that he would refuse her request now.

"Hell yeah- but I won't go easy on you!" He felt her aura flare as he spoke, her expression now one of total happiness. She all but pulled Jaune out into the hallway, rambling on excitedly about what she had learned and how much she missed his training. He found himself laughing once again that night- the night had gone as he thought. Jaune only imagined training with Ruby, laughing with her and the sleeping the rest of the night away afterwards. Being seen naked by Ruby, walking back in silence, getting to _kiss_ her, and rectifying the situation with Pyrrha… He never saw it coming. But he wouldn't change it for the world- everything tonight was, indeed, turning up Arc.

The blonde boy glanced at team RWBY's door as he was hauled to the gym once more that night, and smiled, letting out a sigh of utter content.

 _None of this would have happened without you, Ruby. I love you- I really do. And I hope that you feel the same. You're making my life better every second that you're in it… And I never want you to leave._ He turned his attention back to where they were going, knowing that everything would be okay. _Thank you._


	5. Chapter 5: Would You Hold Me? (II)

Jaune rarely had nightmares. They were somewhat foreign to him, as he honestly didn't remember the majority of his dreams anymore. Even as a small child however, the blonde boy never really found himself ripped from his slumber, screaming and sweating as he tried to regain his state of mind. This being said, Jaune knew very well how these instances of night terrors played out from before Beacon. Having so many sisters, it wasn't uncommon to wake in the middle of the night to hear sniffling and sobbing from one of them. Usually, he'd just try to go back to bed- his parents or other sisters would comfort the one who was crying, anyways. But there were times where everyone else was in too deep a sleep to hear- Jaune always heard, no matter what the situation. So, he'd go over to which ever sister was upset on such a night, and would pull them into a hug, holding the them in his arms until they fell back asleep. He never spoke, for he did not know what exactly he was to say to any of them. His younger sisters would be too scared to converse with him, and his older sisters would refuse to talk should he ask. But he never did, not wanting to pry on the personal emotions of his family. It was comforting, he'd admit, holding them close until their consciousness faded. It made Jaune feel important, like he was actually making a positive difference in their lives- and that was something that he thoroughly enjoyed. That being said, these acts of kindness did result in a lack of sleep in his end, which usually led to the next day being pretty rough for him. So when he left for Beacon, Jaune was silently grateful that, even though he didn't mind the act of helping out, he wouldn't be awoken from his peaceful night anymore due to other people's nightmares.

That is, until Ruby called one night. The jingle that emitted from Jaune's scroll was just loud enough to awaken him, though not quite so loud to wake his other teammates. At first, he tried to ignore it, turning himself so that he wasn't facing the flashing screen. The call dropped after the fourth ring, but once again started up before Jaune could let his content sigh free. Groaning, he turned back over, swinging his hand over to his bedside table to grab the device, but he was instead met with the corner of said table. He cursed as his finger bent back and pulled his arm against his chest. This definitely was _not_ the way that he wanted his morning to start. Glancing back at his scroll, Jaune noted the time- two in the morning, only about three hours since he had been working out with Ruby. _Aw, c'mon!_ _Who the hell wants to talk to me now? No one talks to me throughout the DAY._

Reaching his hand out again, carefully this time, Jaune recognized that the mental statement he had just made was no longer true for the most part. After four months of training with his best friend every night, JNPR's team leader was getting to be a pretty popular guy on campus. More girls would wave in his direction than ever before in his life, and the guys would come and make conversation and laugh with him. It was rather surreal, if Jaune was to be honest- never in his life had he ever reached such a standing on any social ladder. It was nice, a different sort of experience to his pre-Beacon life. It was all thanks to Ruby, everything that he had achieved was all because of her. His amazing physique, drastically improved fighting skills, his confidence… It was all her. Jaune relished every second near her, especially since the night of their "shower incident". The two teens had moved past the trauma such an event could inflict almost immediately, and had continued with being the best of friends. Their teams went on missions together, fought together, and hung out with each other like family. Hell, he and Pyrrha were actually spending time with each other again! It was as if their friendship was changing the world around them- but Jaune did want something more. He wanted to ask Ruby about the kiss, the flirty glances and where they stood in terms of how she felt about him, but he just couldn't- not yet anyways. Jaune couldn't really explain it, but he was scared. Whether it was because he was afraid of pushing her away if he misinterpreted her feelings, or because he still lacked total confidence in his own abilities to be up to par for her, the blonde boy was still apprehensive about confronting the subject. Each night he would scold himself for not gathering the courage to be upfront about the whole thing, telling himself that she felt the same way he did. And part of him was convinced that the signs were there one hundred percent… Yet he hesitated. Not that it totally bothered him in the long run- Ruby was still his "bestest friend", and that was more important than anything.

Seeing that the caller who had pulled him from his dreamless sleep was team RWBY's leader, Jaune instantly lost his annoyance- only to be replaced with worry. In the four months they spent with each other, Ruby _never_ called him this late, let alone multiple times when he didn't answer. It was enough to quicken his heart rate, though he tried to not let it get ahold of him. Sliding his finger across the still ringing scroll (and ignoring a vague "shut up" directed at him from a sleeping Nora), Jaune watched as the screen popped up and displayed Ruby's face.

"Ruby? What are you doing-" Jaune's voice broke with a yawn. It surprised him just how much sleep was still audible in voice. "- doing up? It's like… Really early."

The image of her face was dark, only illuminated from the scroll, but Jaune had no trouble seeing the visible distress on her face. "Jaune?" Her voice was small and sounded to be hinted with fear, which was more than enough to get the blonde boy's nervousness to increase. Sitting up, Jaune was on his feet in no time.

"Are you okay? What's wrong Ruby? Are you in trouble?" _Please don't be in danger._

The young girl swallowed hard before answering. "Can you… Come to my room? Please? Like, now?"

"What's going on, are you okay?"

"I will be once you're here." Her voice was near pleading, and Jaune wasn't going to refuse such a request from someone he loved.

"I'll be right there."

"Thank you Jaune- don't knock when you're outside. Just text me and I'll open the door." With that, the call ended.

The speed at which Jaune threw on his slippers and exited his room was astounding. As his door shut behind him, the blonde shivered slightly. The hallway of their building was significantly colder than the rooms were, and it made him regret not bringing his blanket out with him. Even wearing his onesie would have been better than now, but he had started to feel like that was a rather… Emasculating choice of attire, especially in a school of warriors. So in only his boxers and t-shirt, Jaune now stood alone in the dark, staring at team RWBY's dorm room door. He tried to rationalize the situation, though trying to understand why Ruby called him proved difficult. She obviously wasn't in danger, otherwise she wouldn't be able to open the door for him. Racking his brain as thoroughly as possible, Jaune shot off a quick text to Ruby and stepped in front of the door. It was less than five seconds before the door creaked open, the dim hall lights revealing a silver eye poking out from behind the wood. Even though the limited light however, Jaune could still make out the clouded look behind Ruby's eyes, as if she was conflicted with herself. He rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm them up and cocked his head at her in concern.

"Ruby, are you-" He was cut off as the small girl shot out from behind the door and against his chest. Staggering a bit, Jaune fought to keep upright as he maneuvered his arms to embrace her. Her body felt warm against his own,causing him to sigh with relief, both from her raising his temperature and being physically okay. Jaune could feel her shaking slightly tough, and that told him that wasn't a sign of anything good. "Hey, it's okay Ruby, I'm here. What's going on- where's your team?"

Ruby didn't immediately respond to the question, leaving her head pressed against Jaune's chest. He thought about asking her again, but she pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. What looked to be an internal conflict before now resembled… A sheepish sorrow? "They're inside…" She acknowledged his confused expression with a blush, only visible by the glow of the hall lights. "... I'm sorry Jaune, I… I had a nightmare."

"Uh…Ok?"

Ruby's eyes moved down to the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you."

Shaking his head, Jaune attempted to rephrase his verbal blunder. "No, it's fine! I'm sorry you had a nightmare, that sucks. But I mean… Why didn't you wake one of your teammates?"

"Well… I have nightmares every now and then, and I usually ask Blake if I can sleep with her. I didn't want to wake her for the third time this week. Yang always ends up pushing me off the bed in her sleep, and Weiss is… Weiss."

Jaune nodded sympathetically, rubbing her back as he did so. "Yeah, I get it. Damn, I'm sorry Ruby, that's-" His words cut off with a halt as something she had said came to the forefront of his mind. "Wait, you said you ask Blake if you can sleep with her when you have nightmares? Does… Does that mean you called to…"

Ruby didn't meet his eyes as his question trailed off. Both were silent for a few moments, Ruby's blush ever increasing by the second as was Jaune's heartbeat. Finally, after what seemed like a half hour, Ruby spoke. "... I don't know, maybe it was dumb. I just thought since you're my best friend, and I really didn't want to fall asleep alone tonight… Maybe you could stay the night here."

Though Jaune had begun to suspect where the conversation was headed, he felt his jaw drop. "...But what about your team?"

"They're asleep, so as long as we're quiet, and wake up before they do so that they don't get the wrong idea…" Ruby paused, only to violently shake her head and begin to pull out of Jaune's arms. "I'm sorry Jaune, it was a stupid idea, I don't want to make you uncomfortable… Have a good night, sorry to wake you."

The blonde boy's heart dropped upon seeing Ruby in such a upset state- sure, she could be just as awkward as he was at times, but he would take on every bad emotion any day if it meant she didn't have to. Reaching out, he gently grasped her wrist as she turned to go back inside, stopping her in place. That was the moment where she met his gaze, and the turmoil that was behind those silver eyes made him immediately pull her back into a hug. "Hey, it wasn't a stupid idea! I was just… Ya know, caught off guard."

"Yeah, sorry." Her voice was low, a combination of fluster and sleepiness residing in the words.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Ruby- I'm sorry you had a bad dream." They stood there in each other's arms for a few seconds longer before Jaune looked down at her, aware that heat was rising to his cheeks. "So… Do you still want me to come in, or…?"

Ruby seemed to nod almost instantly. "Please? I mean, I'm tired and… I always feel comfortable when you hug me." Despite how fatigued and embarrassed she sounded, Jaune's aura flared with joy at the statement. Leave it to Ruby Rose to be completely adorable in even her most troublesome moments.

"Well, you know… As long as we're quiet. So Yang doesn't wake up… And kill me."

"She won't kill you! Hopefully…"

A nervous chuckle rose from Jaune's throat- he didn't even want to know if that was a joke or not. "Haha… Well… No time like the present."

She seemed to ponder for a second longer before nodding, taking his hand gently and guiding him inside. Closing the door behind him softly to avoid noise, the blonde allowed his friend to navigate them towards her bed in the dark- the last thing that he wanted was to trip on something and create a very awkward situation for the both of them. They stopped in front of a bunk bed (something that Jaune thought was an awesome idea and was mildly disappointed he hadn't thought of that arrangement for his team's room ahead of time), and Jaune made sure that he remained as quiet as possible. Weiss slept on the bed below Ruby's hanging one, and it twisted his stomach to even imagine awaking her from her slumber. Ruby glanced to Jaune, who nodded to her, confirming that things would be okay, though he had to admit to himself that he was worried. If any of Ruby's team witnessed them in bed together, even if all they were doing was sleeping… Especially _Yang_ … He didn't even want to imagine. Ruby returned the nod and began to climb up onto her bed. It squeaked lightly, causing Jaune to nearly vomit- it was _so_ nerve wracking, reminding him of when he tried to sneak out of his house as a kid. Key word being _tried_ ; and the position that he was in now was one that he did _not_ want to get caught in the middle of.

His thoughts snapped back to reality as Ruby offered him a hand. Slowly taking it, Jaune was all but hauled onto the top bunk- Ruby's incredible strength never failed to amaze him. He didn't dare make a noise as he landed beside her. He even waited a moment after the bed stopped shifting to make sure that no one else had been woken up. Upon hearing nothing but he and Ruby's breathing, Jaune allowed himself to survey his current situation. The room was only illuminated by the streak of moonlight through the curtains, but it was enough for Jaune to see his bed he and Ruby were on was the same as his own, but it's hanging position caused it to fold slightly in the middle, thus making it seem smaller. He had Ruby practically pressed against the front of his body, which he in no way minded, but was still enough to break him into a cold sweat. Her warmth was licking his exposed legs and arms, driving his mind into simultaneously the most comfortable and uncomfortable places. _REALLY hoping my blood doesn't go too far down right now._

Ruby's breath tickled his nose as she spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "You're really cold."

"Well, I'm not wearing much. And that hallway was like the Arctic." He tried to match her tone, still nervous about waking up the others.

"Well, I could warm you… If you'd hold me..." The words were so low Jaune could barely make them out. All he could tell for sure was that she was blushing.

"Huh?"

Ruby raised her voice in the slightest, just enough for Jaune to hear. "Would you hold me? Please?"

The words were both familiar and beautiful to Jaune as the corners of his mouth rose. "Absolutely- always."

Squirming forward, though it wasn't like the two could get much closer, Ruby wrapped her arms around Jaune's waist, her legs intertwining with his own. It set firecrackers off in his brain, explosions of joy and the purest of happiness. She smiled, her eyes slightly drooped from the fatigue. "...This is making me feel better already."

"I can definitely agree to that." Jaune felt his aura flaring hard enough to the point of almost making him glow. Ruby never failed to make him feel this way. Every workout or hangout of every second of every day… She was his entire world. But Jaune recognized that at this time, he wanted _her_ to feel the same way. He wanted her to know that he'd always be there for her, and would never stop trying to make her life the best it could possibly get. Jaune moved his hands down her shoulders, resting them in the small of her back. She sighed in content, her body heat seeping into his cold form, before grabbing the blanket and pulling it up to their necks. Jaune felt himself smile- _this_ was perfect. He could sit in this moment for all eternity had he the capability. To be wrapped around Ruby, snuggled in warmth and comfort… Perfection.

One thing still bothered him, however. Extending his neck out, which only took about two inches due to how close they already were, Jaune tapped Ruby's nose with his own. Her eyes opened again, holding both a tired and curious aspect to them. "Hey Ruby? Why didn't you ever tell me that you had nightmares before?"

There was a pause as the girl shrugged in his embrace. "I don't know, I just thought...It was something that I could deal with on my own, you know? I have this long, so…" She trailed off with a yawn, their busy day of training and classes taking effect at last from the bad dream. Jaune frowned, however- dealing with something like that alone must have been terrible, especially when knowing that he was always there for his sisters when they had nightmares. And even though he never spoke to them during it, Jaune would be more than ready to comfort Ruby through these times, however she may need it. As this point was made clear in his mind, he felt a courage building, one that he wasn't too familiar with. Looking at Ruby's beautiful, sleepy face in that moment, it hit him.

And without a second thought, Jaune leaned forward to kiss Ruby, his best friend on the planet. Not on the cheek, or the forehead- a real kiss. His lips touched hers gently, his arms wrapped tighter around her body. He could feel her stiffen after a moment, and it caused him to pull back. She looked shocked, but even though that, the darkness and her sleepy demeanor, there was a very obvious grin plastered on her face. Jaune let himself smile as well, proud of himself in so many ways.

"You don't have to go through it alone- not anymore. I'll always be here for you, Ruby."

Her grin only widened before she thrust her face against his chest, her aura seeming to let out a dazzling buzz. "... Thank you, Jaune. You're the best guy I've ever known…"

The boy just laughed softly, petting her hair in the process. It only took moments for Ruby to fall to sleep, her soft snoring tempting Jaune to do the same. He felt as though he was being overwhelmed, but by the good kinds of feelings. Confidence, pride, happiness… Love. He felt it all in that moment, and it was glorious.

 **(RWBY)**

Jaune gasped as he awoke- or more accurately, as he hit the floor below the bed. He coughed, trying to blink away a harsh light to see what the hell happened. The impact had caused his ears to ring slightly, but he could make out a surprised shout from Ruby. _What the hell is going on? Are we being attacked? OZPIN SAID MONSTERS WOULDN'T GET INTO OUR ROOMS!_

His mental shouting was stopped by a hand grabbing him by the throat. Struggling against his attacker, he blinked a few more times, and was able to see the cause of the bright light- it was Yang's hair. And that was the girl who was currently trying to murder him.

"YANG!" Jaune shot his gaze to Ruby, still covered by her blanket and a look of horror on her face. On the other side of Yang, Weiss stood next to Blake looking disgusted by the situation. The faunus seemed to look rather concerned for the safety of the boy, which Jaune would have appreciated in any circumstance other than the one that he was in. He also vaguely noted that it was morning, and inwardly groaned while trying to keep from suffocating. _So much for waking up before the others._

"Yang, let go of him!" Ruby yelled again, throwing the covers off of her body. "Don't hurt him!"

"Don't hurt him?" The blonde snarled. "You bet your ass I'm going to hurt the guy who's sleeping with my sister!"

"Look- we're fully clothed! Nothing happened! We were just sleeping together because I had a nightmare!"

Yang shook her head, tightening her grip on Jaune's throat and causing him to gasp harder. "I don't care what was going on- I wake up and see a guy in your bed, he's going to die!"

"Yang," Blake began slowly. "Let go of Jaune."

"No! Ruby isn't sleeping with a guy unless she loves him!"

" _I do love him!"_ Ruby's voice silenced every noise within the dorm. Weiss' eye's widened, Blake's hand moved to her mouth, and Yang's mouth dropped to the floor as everyone turned to stare at her. The world seemed to freeze for everyone, but for Jaune, it was the entire universe. His heart stopped mid-beat, his body shook, his brain exploded and threw out every single emotion he had ever known.

… _She loves me?_

All eyes were on Ruby, as if she was the main performer on a stage. Yang's grip had loosened, allowing Jaune to breath, or at least would have if he could even comprehend how to formulate them. For a time, nothing happened. Nothing moved, nothing spoke, the world was frozen. Then, there was a woosh of air, a door banging, and rose petals gently fell to the ground below. It was only after the last one hit the carpet that all three remaining members of team RWBY slowly looked at the boy who was pinned under Yang. He barely registered it as happening, as only one phrase raced through his mind like a charging pack of Grimm, with all the speed and force behind it.

 _She loves me._

The others must have seen it in his eyes, as Yang hauled Jaune to his feet, a mixture of concerned conflict and intense rage in her still red eyes. "We need to talk." With that, she reared back and tossed him onto her bed. Jaune felt himself moan as he hit the mattress. He wanted to jump up and run after Ruby then and there, but he knew that he couldn't with the three girls standing there. So he sighed and sat up to face them, most of his concern on Ruby and just the tiniest bit on himself.

"Uh…. Please don't kill me."

* * *

 ** _Aaaaand Cliffhanger! Sorry for late update, just really bad writers block (ugh). But anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this so far! This story, as some of you may know, has gone under multiple changes, and I really appreciate all of the constructive feedback from everyone! Thanks for sticking with it, and there's more to come soon! Comments and feedback are very much welcomed- it was that, after all, that changed my rushed story into something a little bit better. Love y'all!_**

 ** _-FlamingNytro_**


	6. Chapter 6: Would You Listen to Me?

She ran. Her legs burned, her blood raced, time ceased to exist. The walls of the hallway became a blur and other student's conversations were reduced to background noise. Through the heartbeat slamming it's beat against her eardrums, she could vaguely make out others calling out to her, inquiring as to what was wrong, why was she sprinting through the halls of Beacon at ten in the morning. She responded to none of these- she just ran. Ruby Rose didn't slow down. Feelings of stupidity and guilt spun around her mind as she flew out the front doors into the cool morning air. She had no reason to dash out of the room the way she did, leaving Jaune behind in the process. That was part of the reason she felt terrible- the boy getting interrogated by her team was definitely not something that wanted him to go through alone, but after what she blurted out… Slowing down to a walk, Ruby lifted a hand to her eye, checking to see if she was crying. She felt as though she was. How much of an idiot had she been to say what she said in the way that she did- sure, she had her awkward moments, but this was something far worse than what she usually put herself into. And the way that Jaune looked at her, his mouth hung open, eyes wide in shock…

"...I can't believe I did that." Her statement was directed at no one, just coming out in verbal thoughts as she sat on a bench near the school's fountain. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Ruby knew that she should have expected such an outcome. Jaune was her best friend, one of the only people that she ever confided completely in, regardless on what the subject should be. It was the first instance in her life where she had ever been totally comfortable in the presence, the friendship, the arms of a man. Not once did she take him for granted, and she knew that she never would. Everytime she felt like she needed someone before that one night on the roof less than five months ago, Ruby went to her team. And this didn't change- her trust in her friends was as strong as it had ever been. But lately, the first one that she'd approach with a problem, a thought or an idea, was always Jaune. It just felt right, like he could take away any bad feelings she may have or provide exactly what she needed whenever she needed it. And it didn't take any sort of detective to figure out why. She had, after all, just thoughtlessly released the reason from her lips back in her room.

But once again, Ruby felt as though she should have seen it coming. It had taken her a while to convince herself to stop dropping hints of her interest in Jaune. She had always been slightly awkward in social situations, even with friends. And it had always been Yang who was the flirty one of the pair, the one who was so confident in herself that anything that she said or did seemed so right. Ruby had wished that she had her sister's gift in that regard, but being with Jaune was really the first time that she could talk herself into putting herself out there. So, she did- sweet gestures, flirty comments, the hugs, and those kisses… They made her world spin each time the memories surfaced in her mind. Even though there were many occasions where she felt like she stumbled on words or just did something that was more embarrassing than flirty, Ruby noticed that Jaune never commented on any of it. Both the mistakes and the successes- he seemed oblivious. In a sense, it gave the young huntress relief. There had not been a point for some time where she thought that she could handle a confrontation about what she was attempting to do should Jaune figure it out. In recent weeks however, ever since the pool party, Ruby came to realize that this was what she truly wanted, and because of this conformation, she tried harder and harder to get a reaction out of Jaune. But the boy seemed as clueless as ever to her actual feelings, and that worried Ruby to a pretty great extent. The thought of his rejection should she be misinterpreting his feelings differently than her own would definitely ruin what they had going and send her reeling back into the lack of confidence that she resided in before that night on the roof. She had seemed so sure tonight though, so sure that he shared her feelings. He had kissed her, held her, protected her from the night terrors that threatened her. Ruby was _so sure…_ but had she been wrong? Was Jaune really just trying to be friendly in a way that she hadn't expected? From the way he looked at her back in the room, that seemed to be the case. Ruby felt herself sigh, the sadness brought on by the whole situation slowly creeping through her mind.

"Why did I think that he'd feel the same way? It's Jaune… I'm so stupid. I could've messed it all up…" Running her hands through her hair, the young huntress noted that she was shaking and tried to sustain the composure she had left.

"Ruby?" Jumping slightly at the sudden call of her name, Ruby's gaze shot up to in front of her. There, not three feet away, Pyrrha stood in front of the bench, a genuinely concerned look on her face. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, Pyrrha! I'm- I'm fine, don't worry. Just… Wanted some air." She knew that she sounded in no way convincing, her voice small and quivering as she answered.

The warrior cocked her head, obviously troubled by her friend's dim aura. "Are you sure? You could talk to me if something is the matter."

Ruby paused, swallowing her feelings back hard and not meeting Pyrrha's eyes again. "Yeah… It's all… It…"

"Ruby, you're crying…" The concerned edge in Pyrrha's tone accompanied by the hand she placed on her shoulder persuaded Ruby to stop trying to keep composed. Her silver eyes looked into the green pair in front of her. Nothing but compassion and worry rested behind them, and Ruby knew that she could trust them. She felt safe, knowing somewhere inside herself that Pyrrha was as honest as Jaune was. So she didn't try to push it back any longer; Ruby thrust herself into the girl's arms, her head immediately burying into her neck. She felt stupid for acting this way, but it just all seemed like too much for her alone right now- and Pyrrha always did give good hugs. She felt Pyrrha freeze in surprise momentarily, but her arms were wrapped around Ruby's waist quick enough. The older girl wasted no time pulling Ruby back onto the bench, sitting beside her while never letting the embrace break. The hand that rubbed the small of her back was soothing, Ruby admitted to herself, but not quite enough to make the feelings of regret leave.

"It's okay, I'm here. What's wrong Ruby? Did something happen?" Ruby would have smiled at Pyrrha's concerned tone if she hadn't been feeling the way she did. Letting out a shaky breath, Ruby pulled back slightly to rub at her eyes.

"I'm sorry Pyrrha, I feel so stupid right now."

"You're not stupid, Ruby, something's bothering you." Pyrrha raised a hand, wiping the tears gently from Ruby's cheek. "You can tell me what's making you upset, if it would help."

There was a moment of hesitation; Ruby knew about Pyrrha's past feelings of Jaune (honestly, it was harder to _not_ notice back then).She really wasn't aware of whether or not she still felt the same way, and Ruby didn't want her to hate her. So the young girl shook her head.

The look Pyrrha responded with seemed to be one of disappointment. "Oh… Are you sure? I mean, I'm sorry, I understand if you don't want to talk. It's just… Seeing your friends cry is never good. And I've never seen you cry- it is particularly saddening." She shook her head, a slight flush running to her face. "I'm sorry Ruby, I don't wish to make you uncomfortable."

"It's okay." Ruby sniffed softly, shrugging her shoulders as she did. "I just… The reason why I'm like this? I don't know how you'll take it."

"Did I make you upset?" It was Ruby's turn to shake her head as Pyrrha began to look worried about it possibly being her fault.

"No, not at all! The thing is… I just… Damn, this was so much easier to say when I wasn't even thinking of it… Ok. I like Jaune." She paused, averting her gaze to the ground in front of the bench. "I… _Love_ Jaune… Please don't hate me."

The silence that followed was agony to Ruby. Each heartbeat sounded like explosions in her ears. The last thing she wished for was to start any sort of quarrel between herself and Pyrrha. She braced for a verbal assault, a betrayed look, _anything,_ but none came. It was only a few seconds later that she felt a hand rest on her knee. Looking back to her friend, Ruby was more than a little confused to see that the emotion behind Pyrrha's expression was one of joy.

"That's great, Ruby!"

"... What? Am I missing something?"

"I don't understand…"

"Um… You don't hate me for that?"

"Ruby…" The red haired warrior's voice lowered a bit, as if she were embarrassed by the thought of what she was to say. "I won't lie to you- it is true that at one point I was interested in Jaune. Very much so, honestly. And… Perhaps a part of me still does."

The words pierced Ruby's heart, causing an instant sense of guilt to wash over her. "I'm sorry Pyrrha, please don't be mad at me, I didn't want-"

"Ruby, it's okay!" Pyrrha's free hand grasped her other knee gently, cutting her off from her inevitable rambling. "It doesn't upset me! I'm glad that you have feelings for him. Besides, at this point, I'm sure that you would better for him then I would be." The statement was followed by a sad sort of smile, which confused Ruby.

"Why would you think that? You're super pretty and smart and an amazing huntress and so much more."

The older girl's cheeks laced with scarlet at the kind words. "That is very sweet of you to say Ruby… But I'm afraid that myself and Jaune haven't been on the exact same page for a while."

"Because of the tournament, right?" Ruby shifted her body in such a way that she could see fully view Pyrrha as she spoke. "You were busy training and stuff."

"Believe me Ruby, my intention was in no way to make him feel the way he did. Every day that I left our room without the rest of the team felt wrong, but I just wanted to become the best that I could be. And I was wrong to assume that I had work on my own to do it." Pyrrha sighed lightly, her shoulder leaning against Ruby's. The now afternoon sun shone brilliantly off her armor as she looked towards the sky and began to continue. "In the process however, I hurt him. I'm sure that he told you how lonely he felt. I didn't mean to have that happen, but that was when he started to train with you. He has improved so much since then- I'm proud of him, as I'm sure you are. And with you… Jaune is happy, Ruby. Happier than I have seen him in quite some time. Your friendship has given him strength and hope and drive, and that's why I believe that the two of you together is the best thing that could happen."

Ruby would've been lying to herself if she were to say that Pyrrha's kind words were not unexpected. "But… I blurted out how I feel about him in the room this morning, with him there. You should've seen his face Pyrrha… It looked like I totally wrecked everything."

The warrior shook her head and chuckled. "I'm sure that you didn't wreck anything, Ruby. I can tell you first hand how clueless he could be at times. More than likely, he wasn't expecting you to feel the same way."

"But… He slept with me last night." There was a pause before Pyrrha's eyes grew wide, causing Ruby to laugh softly and wave her hands in front of her. "No, not like that! I had a nightmare, and he held me close to comfort me… And kissed me."

"He kissed you?" Pyrrha's hands flew to her mouth, an almost childlike grin rising to her lips. "Oh, that's amazing Ruby!"

"...You think so?" The smaller girl felt the hands on her knees move to her shoulders, prompting her to look back into the green eyes of her friend.

"Ruby, please trust me on this- Jaune is all about you. If you two talk to each other about it, I _know_ that you will see that."

Again, there was a silence as Ruby pondered the conversation. Was Pyrrha totally sure? Did Jaune really want her too? She wanted to believe it, and at this point, a larger part of her did. Her confidence felt boosted, brightening her aura and clearing her mind. Slowly, Ruby smiled and pulled herself into another hug. "Thank you Pyrrha- for telling me all of that. And not hating me."

"I could never hate you Ruby." The two remained in the embrace for a short time before Pyrrha let go and stood, cracking her back in the process. "I would ask if you would like to accompany me for some lunch, but I need to go hand in an assignment to Oobleck. You could still join me, if you'd like."

"Thanks Pyrrha, really… But I kind of just need to think about some things still."

"Absolutely Ruby." She bent down to hug her friend once more before turning to head off. "I can tell that you are one of the best things that has ever happened to him- I know that it will all work out."

Everything seemed a bit better to Ruby now. The sun became a bit warmer, the wind slightly softer, and the conflicted feelings she housed were now a shell of what they had been. Words couldn't describe how thankful she was that Pyrrha understood and accepted her feelings for Jaune. Their conversation had left her with some things to consider, and despite the lingering feelings of hesitation, her head seemed much clearer than it had been. Standing from the bench, Ruby began to head to the one place she knew of where she'd be able to clearly think without interruption. She let out a breath, putting up her hood and sticking her hands in her pocket.

 _It's okay Ruby- things will work out. You got this… You'll get through this._

 **(RWBY)**

"I don't think that he'll get through this." Jaune felt his blood run cold at Weiss' remark to Blake. Yang had always intimidated him before now, but as she leered over him now, he desperately wished for either an escape or a quick death. The flames rising from the blonde girl's hair had only increased as Ruby ran from the room, and Jaune was beginning to contemplate whether or not the resulting outcome would be the building catching fire. Judging on how things had been going so far, it was a pretty good hypothesis to make. Currently clutching a pillow to his chest, Jaune had his eyes locked onto Yang's, not daring to even move an inch. _Maybe if I stay perfectly still, she won't kill me._

Behind her, Blake let out an audible sigh. "Yang, you've been standing over Jaune for nearly ten minutes now. Just back off a bit, you're scaring him."

"Hey, I am not scared!" Jaune protested, but flinched as Yang growled at him. "But you know, maybe a little on edge."

"You should be scared!" Yang replied, balling her hands into fists. "You know how hard it is for me to not break your legs right now?"

The faunus rolled her eyes, grabbing Yang's shoulder and pulling her back a few steps from the bed. "Okay, that's enough! Lay off."

Weiss stepped up, cautiously, her arms folded in front of her. "Yeah, aren't you the one who's always saying that it would be just _fantastic_ if Ruby got a boyfriend?"

"I'm not her-" Jaune cut off his statement as Yang sent him another death glare.

Blake nodded towards Weiss. "You have said that you'd be happy for your sister if she were to start dating."

"And I would be! I want my sister to experience love- I mean, who wouldn't? But she never told any of us about it!" The blonde pointed to Jaune. "And if you woke up to find your sister in bed with a guy she never told you about, you'd probably be pissed too!"

"I learned to live with it…" Weiss muttered.

"Ruby didn't have to tell you about Jaune- he's one of our friends. Not to mention the fact that she isn't in the wrong for not asking permission to sleep with someone."

"You're missing the point, Blake! Ruby doesn't need my permission, but it would be nice to know about who's pants she's getting in before it happens!"

Jaune felt like he was practically melting with embarrassment. With his face as red as Ruby's cape would be, he slowly raised a hand. "Um…" The three members of team RWBY turned to look at him. "Me and Ruby… We aren't… You know, _sleeping_ together."

Yang scoffed, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Right- care to explain, in that case, why we woke up to see you wrapped around her?"

"Look, she called me last night and said she had a nightmare, and that she needed someone there with her. I came over here, and just… Held her until she fell asleep."

"Ruby comes to her team when it comes to nightmares, not random guys!" Yang protested, but was spun around to meet Blake's gaze.

"For the love of Dust, Jaune _isn't_ some random guy! Besides, it would make sense that Ruby would call him for something like that. They're good friends, she probably didn't want to wake me up again this week, and she definitely wouldn't wake Weiss."

"Hey!" Weiss began, but was cut off by Yang's interjection.

"And why wouldn't she wake me? I'm her _sister!_ "

"Well, if you didn't kick her off the bed so much, maybe she would have." The words were released into the conversation before Jaune even realized what was happening. Feeling that he practically just signed his death warrant, his eye's widened as he was lifted from the bed by his collar into the air. His vision was met with the a pair of blood red eyes and his face heated up being so close to Yang's fiery blonde locks.

"What did you say to me? Are you asking for a beating?"

Jaune swallowed hard. "Not really, no…"

"Yang, just stop! You're being irrational." Blake growled, an obvious annoyance growing in her tone.

"You _do_ kick Ruby out of bed once you fall asleep, Yang."

Weiss' statement just made Yang shake her head. "Do you both not understand? I don't want Ruby getting hurt!"

Jaune sighed, struggling slightly in her grip. "Why would I hurt her, Yang? You're all my friends, I wouldn't hurt any of you!"

There was a sort of conflicted look behind Yang's rage Jaune noticed, and the pause after his question confirmed it was more than just him seeing things. "I know you're my friend! But she's my _sister_ … I don't want to see anything bad happen to her!"

" _Would you listen to me? I love her!_ " The room grew silent at Jaune's sudden outburst. Yang's expression lost its rage and was replaced with a further conflicted look, Weiss looked rather shocked and Blake's lips seemed to raise into a small grin. Jaune felt like fainting- the whole situation was so overwhelming, so crazy and different to any other. In the past, he would have retreated to the roof, to sit alone and just lose himself in the stars and night sky. But today, he couldn't- he _wouldn't_. The words that he thought about before Ruby ran out of the room kept replaying in his head over and over again. _She loves me._ They gave him a sense of confidence, a sense of purpose. And he wasn't going to let her go. Grasping Yang's hands, Jaune moved them from his collar and dropped to his feet, breathing a small sigh of relief as he did. He looked into Yang's eyes, mustering up every ounce of courage against the girl who terrified him.

"...I love her, Yang. I would never hurt her, I promise. And, I mean, yeah… Maybe we should have told you that I was staying the night here with her, so sorry for not doing that. But I didn't mean for it to be taken as anything, you know, serious. Honestly, I didn't even know for sure that Ruby felt the same way about me until now."

"Trust me Jaune, she does. Ruby talks about you all the time, and it isn't hard to see her feelings when she smiles the way she does," Blake replied, placing a hand on Yang's arm. "Isn't that what you wanted for her, Yang? To be happy with someone she truly cares for?"

Yang chewed her lip while looking towards the floor. "Well, yeah…"

"So don't kill Jaune- I know she's your sister Yang, but this is what Ruby wants."

"For once, Blake and I are on the same page," Weiss added. "Ruby may be a complete dolt sometimes, but that doesn't mean that she can't decide what she wants in life. You've got to support her on this."

The blonde girl didn't respond, still seeming unsure on what to think. Jaune rubbed his shoulder and looked at her, knowing that his expression was one hinting of worry. "I don't want you to be mad at me, Yang. I really do want to make Ruby happy- and I need to go out there and find her to start. I just don't want any of us to be on bad terms. So…" He opened his arms slowly, trying to smother the nerves that sparked within him as he did so. "... Are we still good?"

Jaune noticed that Yang's eyes had returned to their normal state as she glanced up at him. She remained still, her face rather expressionless, and Jaune was beginning to think that maybe running from the dorm would have been a better option. But after a moment, she closed her eyes and sighed, hanging her head in the process and stepping into his arms (which wasn't something Jaune didn't actually _expect_ to happen). He embraced her lightly, feeling a sense of relief start to warm his blood as she rested her chin on his shoulder. It was another few seconds of silence before Yang's arms wrapped around his waist.

"...Yeah, we're good. Sorry." Her words were low, but enough to make Jaune grin.

"Don't be- I get it. Just… Glad you didn't punch a hole through my chest."

"Shut up, loser." He felt her smile against his neck as the grip around him tightened slightly, but it was only for an instant as Yang pulled back a few steps. Blake patted her on the shoulder while Weiss nodded at him.

"Well, now that all that drama is over, what now?"

Sucking in a breath, Jaune closed his eyes, knowing full well as to what was to come next. "I have to find Ruby, and tell her how I feel."

Blake nodded in agreement. "She seemed rather embarrassed by her outburst- the sooner the two of you discuss the situation, the better things will be."

The blonde boy acknowledged it with a nod of his own, and spun on his heels to make his way to the door. "Right! Thanks for understanding guys- it means a lot."

"Jaune!" Stopping in his tracks, he looked over his shoulder at Yang. Her aura still gave an uncertain sort of vibe, but the way the corners of her mouth were turned up gave Jaune the relief that their friendship was intact and hope for their future that friendship would bring. "Listen… You and Ruby would be pretty cool together. And… I could get behind potentially becoming your sister in law one day."

The heat returned to Jaune's face at the statement, causing him to stutter out an unintelligible sound in response. Yang rolled her eyes, snickering at the flustered look before moving over to the door, opening it and shoving Jaune into the hallway. He caught himself mid stumble and swirled back to see his friend shaking her head at him, but while holding an amused sort of sparkle in her eyes. "You're still a dork though." With that, the door was shut, leaving Jaune alone in the hall.

For the first time that day, Jaune felt completely confident in himself. There was a fire inside of his soul, something that flowed through his veins with such power that he felt as though he was capable of moving a mountain with his bare hands. Perhaps it was the confirmation that team RWBY supported his endeavor, or perhaps it was what Ruby had said before she ran earlier that morning. His mind swirled with his own voice. _She loves me… After all this time, I was right! She DOES love me! And… I love her. I really do love Ruby- damn, I have to find her! She needs to know!_ As suddenly as he was shoved into the hall, Jaune turned and began to sprint through the building. He had no idea where she would be, and he had no plan on how he was going to go about saying what he wanted to say, but it didn't matter- he had never planned out talking to a woman before, after all. Most of those times ended in disaster, but this time wouldn't be like the others. They didn't matter- all that mattered to Jaune Arc was finding Ruby. The girl that had done so much for him over the last few months, the one that noticed him when no one else seemed to. The girl who had become his friend, his rock, his desire and love. She was his everything, and he wished desperately to be the same to her. If he could travel to the night sky and bring her back a star, he would in an instant, as it would be the only thing close to her own beauty. And he was going to tell her that, along with all the feelings he housed for her. It couldn't wait anymore, it couldn't be ignored- Jaune knew, finally, totally, one hundred percent knew what he desired. The echos of his footsteps thundered around every corner and through the doors to the building as his search began.

 _I love you, Ruby, and I'm going to tell you that- finally, I'm going to tell you._

A laugh coming from his left prompted him to slow and look towards the noise, where he saw a girl from one of his classes. She had her finger pointed at him, an amused grin etched into her face. Stopping his pace, Jaune inspected himself before blushing and turning one hundred and eighty degrees and sprinting back to his dorm.

 _I'm going to tell you Ruby- right after I put on something more than boxers._

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Stay tuned.**_


	7. Chapter 7: Would You Love Me?

This was it. After all that had happened, it was finally time for Jaune to do it. There was no going back, there was no mentally rewriting what he wanted or needed to say, and there would be no more time wasted by his uncertainty regarding the whole matter he now found himself in. This was what everything had inevitably been leading up to- Jaune needed to tell Ruby how he felt. It was _far_ past due, if he were to be honest with himself. While waylaying himself with the "what ifs", he hadn't been able to see what he was missing the whole time- the obvious. After everything Ruby had done for him, after every suggestively romantic action that had occurred between the two in the previous five months ever since that fateful night on Beacon's roof, Jaune had still been so _stupid_ as to second guess Ruby's feelings and himself. Did he feel, somewhere deep down in his heart, that he didn't deserve her love, which is why he chose to question its existence? Was he so insecure about how others perceived him to this day that he never felt worthy of her strongest feelings? Or had he been so utterly _clueless,_ so incredibly daft and idiotic as to not see what had been there since nearly the beginning? No matter how long were he to have pondered these questions, Jaune would never be able to pinpoint exactly what it was. What he did know for certain however, was that if Ruby really did _love_ him, he had been missing out something amazing. But no longer- Jaune wasn't going to let this game of emotional indecision and misinterpretation continue anymore. Now, it was the moment of truth- the beginning of the end. And all it would take was a single knock.

Inhaling deeply, Jaune raised his hand to team RWBY's door, steeling his nerves in the process. As many times as he done so already throughout his day so far, one more time couldn't hurt. Besides, he knew that he needed all the confidence he could muster for what he was about to do. He had began gathering as much as he could after rushing back to his dorm from his eventful (but not necessarily fun) morning to put on some actual clothes. He continued thinking of how he was going to say what he needed to as started his search for Ruby. He had quite a bit of time to think, as the young team leader was nowhere to be found. Though, after around an hour of searching the school's grounds while lost in thought, Jaune stumbled upon Yang collecting a few textbooks from her locker. While an initial spark of fear flashed in his eyes upon seeing the blonde due to the day's earlier events, it was clear that the bad blood that Yang harbored towards him was, for the most part, no longer something to worry about. Jaune wouldn't have assumed this one hundred percent (Yang was known to hold grudges), but Yang made her way over to him to say that Ruby had gone back to their dorm, and if he wanted to catch her, it would be the time to do so. So, thanking Yang, and attempting to ignore the comment she made about "no inappropriate business happening between him and her sister" as he started to leave, Jaune made his way up Beacon's steps towards their team's rooms. With every step he took, Jaune reminded himself of why he needed to do this, and couldn't back out. _Because I love Ruby- and I will tell her._ He knew how she felt about him, now for certainty thanks to her outburst that morning, but he never got to say that he returned her feelings because of how shocked he'd been in the moment. That wasn't something that he could live with, though. _After how stupid I've been, she needs to know more than anything._ Still, a part of him worried, as it always did- had he made her reconsider her feelings after she left abruptly that morning due to his cluelessness up to that point? As soon as the thought entered his head, Jaune shook it out- _don't think about that! Keep positive… And just say what you need to say._ So, exhaling the breath he had been holding for longer than he expected to, Jaune pushed his fist forward and knocked on the door.

There was silence for seconds on end. Cursing himself at the possibility of missing her, Jaune started to think about where she may be. But no more than two seconds after he began to wonder this, a small voice called out from behind the door. "Come in."

It was Ruby's voice, and it all but stopped Jaune's heart. A mixture of relief and guilt washed over him as he hesitated, still feeling horrible about how dumb he had been regarding everything emotional between them. But this only lasted a moment before he willed himself to push the door open and step inside.

The room was fairly well lit, the afternoon sunlight from the open curtains spilling into the room. It was however, vacant of people- well, other than Ruby. She sat cross legged on Weiss' bed, her head resting gently against the wall. Her expression looked to be one of contentment, her eyes closed as if they were focusing on something in her mind. She looked… Peaceful. Which, given the day's earlier events, confused Jaune slightly, but it wasn't something he even thought to question. He couldn't think about anything than her, and what she deserved to be told. What he _wanted_ to tell her, more than anything. Moving closer to the bed, Jaune stopped when he was a few feet in front of her. She still hadn't opened her eyes or spoke, probably assuming it was someone from her team. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Jaune tried to brush off the sudden bashful feeling that started to dawn on him. He felt foolish about how unsure of everything he'd been, but he still didn't want her to think badly of him for it. That is, if she already didn't. _Stop thinking like that and talk!_ Swallowing another sigh, Jaune glanced up from the floor to the girl. "Hey, Ruby."

Ruby's eyes flew open, obviously shocked by who was in the room with her. She opened her mouth before closing it again, blushing as she averted her gaze from his and moved it to the bed. "Jaune! Uh… Hey."

"Hey…" Awkwardly, the blonde rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes moving towards the ceiling as a strange, heavy air surrounded them. _Okay, this feels a lot harder than I thought it would be._

Ruby rubbed her arm and bit her lip slightly. "I, uh… I thought you were Yang. Figured she might come up to… I don't know, yell at me or something."

"Heh, I'm pretty sure she wasted all that on me earlier." As the weak attempt at a joke left his mouth, Jaune felt the awkward atmosphere thicken, making his face begin to pale. _Alright- jokes aren't gonna help you through this one, Arc._ Balling up a fist, Jaune started chewing his lip, looking for the proper way to start this all off, which proved to be difficult given his swirling mind of emotions.

Before he could start off however, Ruby spoke. "So… What happened earlier was embarrassing."

A small weight dropped in Jaune's stomach. _That… Doesn't sound like the start of something good._ Devoid of anything more intelligent to say at being caught off guard by her statement, he muttered the easiest word he could think of. "Yeah…"

"And… After I left, I talked to Pyrrha." Jaune blinked at her words, a little more nervousness creeping it's way into his mind- he wasn't sure if that was supposed to a good thing or not. But Ruby continued. "And after that, I had some time to think… Like, to _really_ think. About everything. And, well…" She sighed, meeting his blue eyes with her own unreadable silver pair. "I'm sorry, Jaune."

Confusion now completely filled Jaune. _She's… Sorry? Huh?_ "W-What? Why are _you_ sorry?"

Ruby smiled a sort of disappointed smile, though it seemed to be more directed at herself than Jaune. "I'm… I'm not good at this kind of thing, Jaune. Like, reading people, or being able to see how they feel about me. And I guess after all the time we spent together, I just… I kind of thought…" She paused, blinking slowly as she did so, as if contemplating her words carefully. "And then Pyrrha told me that you… But I can't know for sure… Since I'm not good at this."

Jaune felt his heartbeat increase- what was she saying? "Ruby… What are you talking about?"

With another sigh, Ruby stood up from the bed to meet Jaune, hugging herself slightly as she did so. "Jaune… I meant what I said. Earlier today… I love you." She smiled slightly at this. "I won't deny that, and I won't try to pretend like I never said it. Because… I wanted to say it. I meant it. I _mean_ it." Her arms dropped to her sides as she continued. "And Pyrrha said that you'd feel the same way… But if you don't, if you _really_ don't, and only see me as a friend… I don't want things to change between us. You're my best friend, and if I mess that up..."

Jaune was at a loss for words. She was apologizing to _him?_ After _he'd_ been so stupid as to second guess her feelings? "Ruby… I do feel the same way."

"If you don't though-"

"I do!" Surprising them both by his volume, Jaune took a slow breath and started again. _This is it!_ "Ruby, I do love you. A lot! Like, more than anything!"

A blush started to rise to Ruby's cheeks as she looked off to the side of the room. "Jaune…"

"And _I_ should be the one apologizing to you! I've just been…" He let out a small, humorless laugh. " _I've_ been stupid, Ruby. I fell for you so hard, and I never told you. And I saw some of the signs that you might feel the same way, but… I don't know. I just didn't think that… You know, I was right."

Ruby looked up at him, mild surprise now present on her face. "R-Really? I… I did try flirting with you sometimes, but… I just figured you didn't notice because I'm bad at it. Or you just didn't like me like that."

Hanging his head, Jaune took a step closer to Ruby. "Yeah… I'm sorry, Ruby. I noticed, but I just figured I was imagining them."

"... Why would you figure that I wouldn't like you back?" Ruby cocked an eyebrow curiously, causing Jaune to sigh again.

"Because you're too good for me? I'm not good enough for you? Because I'm… I'm Jaune Arc, and I'm clueless and can't take a hint, and… I didn't want to lose you if I was wrong."

A pregnant silence filled the room as both teens took in his words. A few moments passed in silence before Ruby started to grin, ever so slightly, and shook her head. "... We're both _really_ bad at these things, aren't we?"

Despite the nerves practically chewing on his soul, Jaune found it within himself to allow a somewhat humorless smile to play at his lips. "Yeah… We are."

"I mean… We _kissed_. Like, more than once… And we were both still didn't know for sure…" She trailed off, her eyes meeting Jaune's with a sparkle of humor behind them. It was something Jaune appreciated immensely. _I guess we BOTH worried about being wrong about each other._

"Guess we both just needed more confidence in ourselves."

Ruby nodded slowly. "I'd say so… But I guess that it's not that much of a problem now. Since, you know… We're here."

"Yeah…"

Before he could think of something else to say, Jaune's blood froze and the feeling of Ruby's hand sliding into his. Looking up, his eyes met hers once again- this time, however, there was a small twinkle in her silver pools. A twinkle that made Jaune feel as though he went to heaven. "Hey? You _never_ have to worry about losing me, Jaune. And you _definitely_ don't have to worry about being good enough for me- I'm just a dorky girl who loves weapons too much."

Jaune smiled wider, about to respond when Ruby's arms started to slide around his neck and run into his hair. "A dorky girl who, no matter what, will _always_ love her clueless, adorable dork of a best friend."

A rush of joy hit Jaune in the chest, harder than anything ever could. He did it- he hadn't screwed everything up. It was all he could have ever asked for- and he was feeling like he was on cloud nine because of it. All his fears, his nerves, and any bad or conflicting emotions that floated in his mind had disappeared, and all that was left was the most intense happiness he had ever experienced. For all the times that she had made him feel better about life in the past, Ruby had now given him even more than he had ever received before. Jaune felt like it was a dream, a magnificent fabrication of his mind that couldn't _possibly_ be real, but there was no denying this feeling. It was real, and it, along with Ruby, was _his-_ and it felt so _right._ Like it was meant to happen. The word burned itself into Jaune's brain as clear as Ruby's beautiful eyes did- _destiny._ He could see it clearly now, and there was no way around it- destiny did exist, and his looked to be the best kind.

His arms slowly started to wrap around Ruby's waist as he gazed into those silver pools that he fell in love with all those months ago. "And… I'll always love my beautiful, incredible best friend- who's always there for me, and who's helped me out of more than I could ever have imagined." Feeling his own blush begin to rise, Jaune began to inch closer his head closer to Ruby's his actions seemingly out of his own control. "The friend who I'm so grateful would love me, despite how much of an idiot I've been to have not seen it."

A small huff was emitted from Ruby's nose. "It's okay, Jaune… You're _my_ idiot." With that, she closed the distance between them, filling Jaune's existence with a kiss that filled all of his senses with that one feeling, one that he hadn't known just how much he'd needed- _love._

His arms wrapping tighter around Ruby's waist and pulling her closer, Jaune's mind started to wander back to the night they met on that roof. The night she had saved him from whatever future he would have been apart of had she not have talked to him. The night where he been drowning in loneliness and self doubt… Until she threw him a line. The night where he had found his angel, his light, his happiness- and it was all because of her. Without Ruby, Jaune knew that nothing in his life would be right. Everything- his friends, his skills, his love for himself as well as another- it was because of her. And he felt so thankful for it. For _her._

A small cough caused the two leaders to pull apart and look towards the door. Yang, looking as though she was recovering from a blush, snickered and gave the Ruby and Jaune a thumbs up. "That… That was _disgustingly_ romantic. But still cute- good job Rubes!" Turning to leave, she glanced back at Jaune, his face now lighting up with a crimson glow as well. "You too, Vomit Boy." With that, she closed the door as she left.

Jaune blinked before meeting Ruby's gaze. Her face seemed to be just as red as his, if not more so. For a moment, neither of the two made a movement. Then, Ruby giggled. And Jaune laughed. Soon enough, they were back in each other's arms, the feelings that they had been missing out on for so long now consuming their auras and filling their worlds with something more special than anything in all of Remnant. As Jaune gazed at Ruby in his embrace, the world instantly seemed flawless in his eyes.

 _Thanks, Ruby- for saving me, for making me strong, and for being my friend… And now my love. I couldn't have asked for a better direction for my life- and it's all because of you._

* * *

 **Finally. It's finally done- after writing and rewriting this chapter around fifteen times, it's finally done! I know that this is probably a lot different in tone than the rest of the story, but it was what seemed to stick best out of any of the other ideas I had.**

 **A number of things extended my absence from this story- I was busy with post high school/pre college life, I had writer's block on how to end the story, I realized that I no longer really like this fic much (despite still loving Lancaster), blah blah blah- this list goes on. Honestly, I never really planned for this to be longer than about two chapters (not that I did much planning at ALL), so it's my own fault, really. But this story needed closure, to which I'm sure a lot of you agreed with. Even if it isn't what you were hoping for, I hope that you enjoy it to some degree!**

 **Thank you so much for all the reviews, comments, messages, and and helpful advice that you have all given me over the past year! It means the world to me that some of you have stuck around since the beginning (which is like, a billion years in internet time)! I will try to post more fics in the future- I have been working on like, thirty different ideas or so, and I hope to get some out to you somewhat soon!**

 **Once again, thank you all so much for the feedback and support- I love you all!**

 **-FlamingNytro**


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